Married with Pups
by Chaoticlover
Summary: Sasha and Charlie are about to have pups and one of them is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, but when Sasha gets amnesia and is adopted by a kind hearted ringmaster as a circus act, will Charlie be able to help her regain her memory?
1. Little Super Powered Bundles of Joy

Chapter 1 - Little Super Powered Bundles of Joy

Annabelle re-read the document she got from her superiors, as she had been doing it for over one hour now. This was, certainly, the biggest heavenly event in ages.

"The reincarnation will happen again." Annabelle smiled at the news. The Messiah would get a flesh and bone body soon, and this time, the Savior wouldn't reincarnate as a human but as a dog, as a way to form a permanent bond between humans and animals, showing the whole world that, when it came to spirits, there were no real difference between species.

As happy as Annabelle was for the news, she was also a bit worried since, being the archangel in charge of Dog Heaven, she'd be responsible for the Savior's security from the very moment of the conception. She also knew that this conception would be done under very special circumstances, as it happened the last time.

"_Mmm... I don't think the reincarnation will be done in a virgin dog. Virginity is important for us but not as much as it is with humans, as dogs can still have pure souls after mating, even in those cases when it's just instincts and hormones at work."_ Annabelle thought. _"Plus, since all dogs, by birth, gain the right to enter Heaven, it means that, potentially, any female canine can be a suitable candidate... then, what dog would be the one under special circumstances that would make her worthy of this honor?"_

Annabelle then went to her Soul Visor in order to get a better idea of who would be the mother. This device, similar to a large crystal sphere, allowed Annabelle to see all the souls on their way to incarnate in the newly-conceived pups. All souls were precious, but Annabelle knew the Messiah's one would be special in some way.

Annabelle watched all the souls for a long time until, finally, she spotted a very distinctive one. A sould that had a more intense glow than the others despite the fact it was also smaller than the average, showing this was both a powerful, important soul, and a modest, humble one. Annabelle smiled and tracked the soul's path to Earth, ready to fuse with a newly conceived pup inside a worthy female's uterus... and gasped when realizing who would be the mother.

"She... and he... I... oh, my..." Annabelle couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Of course. Not a virginal conception but still one that involves Heavenly Power, this time from both parents, and parents that had proved themselves worthy enough to have and use that power."

Annabelle continued watching the soul traveling to Earth, and once she got sure the conception was on its way, she called her angels to communicate them the good news. They'd have lots of work to fulfill the responsibility of guarding this soul and its Earthy family, but Annabelle knew everyone involved had the capacity to accomplish this task.

Back on Earth, a female stretched her arm to hug her husband... nothing strange here unless considering the fact this gal could stretch the arm long enough to hug his whole body. Sasha smiled at Charlie, who stared at her pretty face before kissing her. They were taking a break after a very 'active night', proper of a newly wed couple during their honeymoon. They had been here, in the hut Annabelle provided them, for almost 2 weeks now, enjoying a nice, private Hawaiian honeymoon.

"That was wonderful, Mr. Barkin." Sasha kissed him back.

"Mmm... I know... then again, I have to do my best to make you happy, Mrs. Barkin." Charlie replied in his usual smooth, kinda vain way yet still with a very obvious love and admiration for his wife.

"In fact, I think it was more than wonderful." Sasha commented, and Charlie could actually see a beam in her eyes; it wasn't that uncommon, since he could swear this beam appeared every time after they had 'adult dog pleasure', but this time it was so evident that even a dog who weren't in love with Sasha would have noticed it.

"Wow. I knew we were good, but this is a whole new level." Charlie said, visibly impressed. Sasha then realized that the usual super happiness she felt after spending a 'busy night' with Charlie seemed to increase tenfold, something that surprised her a bit, as this night was extremely good yet not that different from the previous times, aside a couple new positions they had used for the first time.

"Either you're upgrading yourself from Excellent Lover to Extraordinaire one, or this is a lot more than our normal... intercourse." Sasha got a thoughtful look. Charlie caressed her ears and neck before kissing her cheeks.

"Well, the first option is the one I like the best... but that's my ego talking." Charlie admitted. "Still, we can always ask Annabelle if our powers are evolving or something. She can tell us if my Elemental Energy is stimulating you more than usual, or if it's just our love at work."

Sasha nodded and kissed Charlie again, realizing he was most probably right, and they went back to cuddle each other, both dogs actually willing to have more 'action' that night.

While these actions occurred, similar ones got interrupted, and not in a pleasant way, as another couple felt this same energy, especially the female one of the couple.

"Mistress?" Manfred asked Belladonna, noticing she had stopped kissing and caressing him back. "Belladonna? What's wrong?"

Belladonna had to stand up from the bed she had been sharing with Manfred since rescuing him and taking the Boxer to Hell with her, and took deep breaths while rubbing the sides of her head, the diabolical female feeling a super migraine coming.

"Okay, I know you don't use the whole 'I don't wanna do it tonight because I have a headache' excuse, so..." Manfred stopped talking as he felt a little migraine coming as well; now his very honest concern for Belladonna's welfare was accompanied by self-concern, fearing she had a contagious disease and he was catching it as well, a very logical reasoning due the extremely close contact they had.

"You felt it too, uh? Yes... you have had your Hellish powers just for a few weeks... it's normal you wouldn't feel it at first... or as hard as I do." Belladonna finally spoke, showing obvious pain. "This... sensation... urgh... it... it's very painful for any Hellish citizen... ungh... good thing I have this shield so nobody can hear us from the outside... or... we'd be hearing all the demons complaining at once."

As Belladonna said, practically every creature in Hell was showing some grade of physical distress, and the most powerful or ancient ones were the ones feeling it the most. A few of them were actually howling so loudly that they were causing tremors and lava explosions all over the place.

"Why? What's going on?" Manfred hugged Belladonna, trying to comfort her while fighting back his own pain, that, luckily for them, wasn't as intense as the one she was feeling at the moment. She was actually thankful for his attentions, being the only thing keeping her from yelling at full force.

"Heavenly... Power... with such intensity... ungh... you only feel this kind of energy... once every several millennia... " Belladonna talked through gritted teeth. "The... Messiah... the Savior... he... or she... is back on Earth... The incarnation... just happened... a few moments ago..."

Belladonna then wide opened her eyes in realization, and a feeling of both pride and fear invaded her, knowing the magnitude of her new task.

"The Savior... I can feel its energy... I really feel it... This means... the Christ didn't return as a human. The Christ is now... a dog... And that means..." Belladonna's eyes glowed with evil energy, pain and rage coming from her inside out. "I'LL BE THE ONE DESTROYING IT!"

If Manfred wasn't so honestly in love with her by this time, he would have dashed away from Belladonna at that moment, her power growing to such high levels of evilness that even other demons would fear her right now.

Back on Earth, Itchy and Bess were going back to her place after a nice romantic date. They had been working a bit harder than usual to cover up for Sasha and Charlie while they were on their honeymoon, so it was a good thing there was little work to do that day, giving the couple some time off for themselves.

"This was a very nice date, Itchy." Bess smiled lovingly at him while they walked, the female getting a sly smile that Itchy didn't notice.

"I know. It was great that we could get a good table at that new restaurant for dogs." Itchy commented, smiling back, and getting a sly grin of his own.

"So... I was thinking... about a way to make this night finish with a special touch..." Bess got a bit closer to Itchy's face.

"What a coincidence. I was thinking among the same lines." Itchy used his summoning power to make something appear on his paw, Bess not realizing it since they were staring at each other.

"I love you so much, Itchy..." Bess whispered.

"Just like I love you, Bess, so..." Itchy moved his paw in front of her as they both said at once...

"... I WOULD LOVE TO MARRY YOU!"

Itchy and Bess froze at the spot, Bess finally noticing Itchy was holding an engagement collar. Being the female of the couple, Bess didn't think about getting one for Itchy, but it was obvious they both have the same idea.

After a few moments, the couple chuckled, and then kissed lovingly. When breaking the kiss, Itchy finally put the collar around Bess' neck, the gal blushing a bit at this without stopping smiling at her (now) fiancee.

"Yes, I want to marry you too." The duo chorused again before going back to kissing. Unknown to them, Annabelle had seen the whole thing from a nearby window (more precisely, the window's glass), but decided not to interrupt them and let the newly engaged enjoy the moment.

"Okay, enough peeping around. Time to go back to business." Annabelle thought out loud before disappearing from the window, and teleporting herself to Hawaii, the canine archangel appearing outside Charlie and Sasha's hut.

"To make this more official..." Annabelle smiled before surrounding herself with a heavenly glow, that would both announce her arrival and give Charlie and Sasha a few moments to stop whatever they were doing at the moment, Annabelle obviously not wanting to get in there right in the middle of an intimate moment.

Like Annabelle thought, Charlie and Sasha saw the glow from the hut's inside, and rushed out, stopping in front of Annabelle, who now was levitating a few feet over the sand.

"Excuse the theatrics, but it's normal protocol when a heavenly message is delivered, especially the important ones." Annabelle smiled at them before going down to earth.

"Message? And it was so important that it couldn't wait for the honeymoon to end, uh?" Charlie arched an eyebrow. It wasn't that he was really upset about the interruption, since he knew Annabelle only did it when it was really necessary, but, like any newlywed, he didn't like the idea of going back to work so abruptly after the honeymoon.

"Heh, sorry, Charlie, but you'll actually like these news." Annabelle then smiled at Sasha. "First, I must confirm you that, the feeling you had a while ago, it wasn't normal couple bliss, but another kind... the maternal one."

"But to feel that, I..." Sasha wide opened her eyes and her jaw hit the sand... literally, thanks to her elastic body. Charlie, understanding what Annabelle meant, almost fainted at the spot, but reacted when Sasha looked back at him, and they both ran to hug each other.

"WE'LL BE PARENTS!" Charlie and Sasha chorused, the male so excited that he started spinning, still holding Sasha, while she extended her arms to give him a hug that pretty much covered his whole torso. Once they cooled down a bit, even if still, obviously, very excited about the news, Annabelle spoke again.

"Yes, you will be parents, and being dogs, it will not be a single pup, but several ones, including an extremely special one."

"All the pups are special, Annabelle." Sasha turned at her.

"Yep, especially if Sasha and I are the parents." Charlie got back his normal smug tone.

"No doubt about that, but you see, one of the pups, and I'm not telling which one because at this point only My Boss knows the answer to that, just got fused with a very important life essence." Annabelle explained, suddenly turning a lot more serious.

"Life essence... you mean, this pup will be the reincarnation of some very important dog?" Sasha asked.

"Not a dog. Remember, the souls are almost the same in Heaven, no matter the species, and the only reason we have the division of Human and Dog Heaven is because it's easier to live your afterlife among the kind you were among when you were among the living." Annabelle reminded them.

"You mean, our pup is the reincarnation of a very important human?" Sasha gasped. "Like... Martin Luther King, or Ghandi, or Albert Einstein, or Joan of Arc..."

"Or Babe Ruth, or whoever invented hamburgers? And sorry if it sounds like a joke, but you gals know I've never been good in History." Charlie added, surprised as well.

"No problem, Charlie, and yes, you got it right, except that this soul is even more important than those you already mentioned." Annabelle paused before dropping the news. "The Christ."

"The... Christ..." Sasha barely could talk.

"You mean... Joseph and Mary's kid... the carpenter... bread and fish multiplication... walking on water... getting back from the death... THAT CHRIST?" Charlie reacted, not fully believing it. "But... I... I thought he could only be born from a virgin... and I can assure you that Sasha no longer fulfills that requirement!"

"I know, Charlie, but keep in mind that you two are Heavenly Powered guardians, meaning you both already carry a piece of Heaven in your souls. That fact alone is enough to make you prime candidates." Annabelle cleared. "And I hope you know what this means."

"Yes... the parenthood responsibility just increased a million-fold." Sasha said while rubbing her own tummy, thinking about Annabelle's news, and the fact she, Sasha, was now carrying the Messiah inside her. Charlie, overwhelmed as well, approached Sasha, and the couple stared at each other for almost a whole minute before smiling to each other, embracing, and turning back to Annabelle.

"Nobody said raising a pup would be easy, so... sure, why not?" Charlie said casually, but Annabelle could sense his real feelings just perfectly. He was as aware of this responsibility as Sasha, and they both were more than willing to accept the job of caring, protecting and raising the future Savior.

"I know, Charlie." Annabelle smiled back at them. "Now, you two enjoy the rest of your honeymoon. I'll teleport you back home in a couple of days while I get Sasha's replacement ready."

"Replacement?" Sasha arched an eyebrow.

"Just a temporary one. Your main duty right now is taking care of your own health and the pups', so you obviously can't fulfill all the responsibilities of a guardian angel. I have to prepare another Earth-based angel to cover for you during pregnancy, and to do it properly, this angel will need special powers too. I will use these last days of your honeymoon to empower the angel and give him time to train with his new abilities, in order to do a proper job." Annabelle then got closer to the couple and hugged them both. "You two should know by now I'd never replace you permanently."

"Ah... job security. You've gotta love it." Charlie chuckled while he and Sasha hugged Annabelle back.

"So, you're saying that I'll be taking a maternity leave." Sasha said while stretching her neck to get close to Annabelle.

"Exactly. See it this way; at least you don't have to travel for the last week of pregnancy, riding a donkey and trying to find a safe place to have your off-spring as it happened last time." Annabelle commented before waving bye and disappearing in a light beam. Charlie, losing no time, carried Sasha, in a very human-like way, back inside the hut.

"Charlie!" Sasha giggled while hugging his chest.

"You heard your gynecologist; you're on pregnancy leave, so I have to take care of you." Charlie grinned. "And make you happy."

Sasha smiled at this and rubbed her blue bulbous nose on his, as the couple made its way back to the bed.

Meanwhile, Annabelle, returning to Heaven, was greeted by one of her top Guardians, Lance.

"How did they take the news?" Lance asked her.

"As good as you might expect. They're actually super excited about having the Christ as their child."

"I already suspected that. What I wanna know is what they think about me being Sasha's replacement." Lance grinned.

"Hadn't told them yet. It was enough surprises for just one day." Annabelle rolled her eyes; he inspired deep affection and confidence in her, but Lance always had a way to be very vain and prideful without even trying. "Anyway, I need to talk with you first."

"I'm at your services, Ma'am... I mean, Annabelle." Lance got a a formal tone but dropped it for a more familiar one, as Annabelle had already asked him several times.

"Your normal abilities will not be enough to fulfill Sasha's role as a super powered guardian angel, especially if you fight Belladonna's new minions; she is copying my idea of overpowering anyone under her direct orders." Annabelle sighed. "And we already know, from very painful and personal experience, that she can equip her minions with ways to absorb Heavenly Power, so I can't just give you a Heavenly Blessing as I did with the others. We need to get you a power source that isn't directly linked to your soul and body's energy so, in the case Belladonna finds a way to drain it, your life will still be safe."

"Then, what do you propose?"

"Are you familiar with the semi-apocalypse that happened in Greece several thousand years ago?" Annabelle saw Lance nodding and continued. "Well, many Heavenly warriors fought demonic hordes back then, and as you know, we won, but we also left a couple of weapons hidden at the old battle field, in case a worthy guardian could use them in the future."

"I got it. Those weapons were made especially to fight demons, so they're kinda isolated against a power drain." Lance correctly guessed.

"Yes, and now I'll send you to that place. The weapon is well hidden, so only a guardian can find it. Good luck." Annabelle smiled before teleporting Lance right outside an old Greek temple's ruins.

Lance was quite impressed at the architecture. Even if the building and statues' state wasn't even half as good as new, they were still solid and breath-taking. Lance entered the ruins, jumping over the fallen columns and other debris, searching for the mystical weaponry.

Lance stopped in front of several fallen statues, all of them representing Greek heroes. Lance then got a weird feeling in his chest, and grinned when his nose started tickling.

"Of course. My Heavenly Scent Sense." Lance realized why only a celestial guardian could find the weapons, since only someone like him could track these artifacts without getting physically ill (as it would happen with a demon) or frustrated, as it would happen with a normal mortal.

Lance sniffed around and stopped in front of Perseus' statue. It was almost completely destroyed by time and vandalism, but the stone shield on the statue's hand was pretty much intact. When Lance touched it, the rock started glowing, and then it cracked apart, revealing a bright, metallic shield, with a mystical talisman in the middle, similar to a lupine eye.

"The Watch Dog Symbol. Very fitting." Lance smiled and touched the shield... and almost instantly, the glowing returned, filling the whole chamber before covering Lance's body. A couple seconds later, he was dressed in a battle armor, and he was standing in his back legs, like a human, while holding the shield in his left hand/paw.

"Wow... this... is impressive." Lance looked at himself before looking back at the shield, realizing it had a sheath on its back. When touching it, Lance took out a long, bright sword, that reminded him of the ones used by the most powerful archangels, including Gabriel, the mighty Heaven General that had vanquished Satan countless eons ago.

Lance started waving the sword, amazed at how light it was, and realizing it made an almost musical sound when cutting through the air. Then, he made a dashing move at a nearby rock, slicing it perfectly, and with such effectiveness that it only broke apart when Lance touching it.

Lance then looked back at the fallen statue, remembering some things from Perseus' legend... including his powerful steed, that could take him to his most dangerous, legendary battles. Lance then lifted the sword and closed his eyes, making a mental image of the creature he wanted to summon.

Lance opened his eyes when hearing the sound of a large creature landing gracefully in front of him, and felt the wind produced by the huge, bright wings that transported it; Lance actually needed a moment for his eyes to get used to the supernatural whiteness of his new companion's body.

"It makes sense; a knight in bright armor needs a horse." Lance smiled while gently touching the powerful, noble beast. "And a Heavenly Knight needs a flying one."


	2. Angels Assemble

Chapter 2 - Angels Assemble

Bess and Itchy entered her house, the place they had told Annabelle they'd be waiting for Charlie and Sasha; once the archangel told them that the newlyweds would return soon, the engaged couple suggested Bess' home as the 'landing' spot. It worked fine for Annabelle since they would be needing some privacy due all the stuff they'd need to discuss.

"Okay, at what time did Annabelle say she'd teleport Charlie and Sasha here?" Itchy asked Bess.

"Mmm... any moment now." Bess looked at the large clock hanging from the living room's wall. Then, on a perfect cue, a very familiar celestial light beam appeared in the middle of the room, and a few seconds later, Sasha and Charlie materialized in there.

"I'm never getting tired of this way of traveling. Not that much for views, but excellent for timing." Charlie joked while Bess and Itchy greeted him and Sasha.

"Great to have you back, guys. Did you have fun?" Itchy asked.

"Yes, but most of that information is kinda private, Itch." Charlie winked an eye at Itchy. Sasha rolled her eyes yet still noticed the new collar on Bess' neck.

"An engagement collar?" Sasha smiled at Bess, who nodded, while Charlie got a large grin and got Itchy in a tight brotherly hug.

"Hahaha... well done, Itch! You two are tying the leash's knot, huh?" Charlie chuckled. "When did you propose to her?"

"Actually, it was a mutual thing, Charlie." Itchy explained, chuckling as well.

"Yes, we dropped the question at the same time. Of course, Itchy was the one bringing the collar; I was ready to be the one proposing, but, as much as I support female independent thinking, there are some things that will always work better if the guy does them." Bess explained.

"I agree; it would be kinda awkward if you gave Itchy the collar." Sasha smiled. "Congrats to the both of you."

"And now, not that Sasha and I wanna steal the spotlight or anything, but we're about to get congratulated by you two as well." Charlie said, getting a proud look and placing his paw/hand on Sasha's belly. "Guess who will become parents in a few months."

"Y-you... you two..." Itchy wide opened his eyes, yet he and Bess got huge smiles at the news.

"Ding-ding-ding! Give the Dachshund a bone; he got it right on the first try." Charlie chuckled, the congratulations and hugs returning, this time addressed to the soon-to-be parents.

"And we don't know if Annabelle already told you two, but one of my pups will have a very special characteristic." Sasha started explaining.

"Oh... you mean, one of them will inherit your powers?" Bess asked.

"A lot more than that." Before Charlie could elaborate, Annabelle materialized in the middle of the room; unlike most of her normal appearances, this time she actually was there instead of just sending her image, another proof that she would be giving very important information, like she did in Hawaii.

"If you allow me, Charlie, and you too, Sasha, I think I'd be the one explaining this part. You know, Heavenly Information, Celestial Business and all that." Annabelle said to her protegees.

"Okay, Annabelle; no arguing with my wife's gynecologist." Charlie half-joked while he and the other guardian angels got comfortable around Annabelle to hear the news; of course, the soon-to-be parents already knew them, but this was such an important issue it was worthy of be heard more than once.

Once Annabelle finished the explanation, Itchy and Bess were almost completely mute, except for the light sound of their own breathing.

"So... you two will be the new Christ's parents..." Itchy finally got back to talking. "Talk about getting a promotion."

"And like any promotion, it comes with a new set of higher responsibilities." Annabelle said. "Including that Sasha's responsibility of taking good care of her own health, and, in consequence, her pups'; because of that, she'll be on maternity leave."

"I see. So, Itchy, Charlie and I will attend all the guardian angels' business while she is safe at home. Don't worry; we'll do it well so Sasha doesn't need to worry about us." Bess said to Annabelle; due to Sasha being the female with the most time as a super powered guardian angel, and her kind, responsible nature, she usually took a maternal role with her companions, even in the middle of a fight, so Bess correctly guessed she'd worry a lot if staying at home while the others were fighting.

"Thanks, Bess. And yes, while you guys are facing enemies, the only thing I'll be able to do is practice and work out with my limbs so I don't lose strength during pregnancy." Sasha nodded at her friend. "But, actually, there will be another guardian angel replacing me while I'm on maternity leave."

"Yes, Annabelle, you hadn't told us who will replace Sasha." Charlie said to the archangel while Itchy and Bess got very interested expressions, since they hadn't heard about this until now.

"Mmm... about that, well, the replacement is arriving by his own means, and I have to say, even if it's very impressive, it's not exactly stealthy, so we'll all go receive him at the city limits. I could have teleported him here, but the way he's coming here as part of the training he's been doing since getting his super powers." Annabelle explained before using her abilities to teleport everyone right out of the city, in a non-populated area and surrounded by large trees, giving them some privacy.

"So, how is this guy arriving? Super speed?" Charlie asked.

"Flight?" Itchy tried guessing too.

"Teleportation by his own power?" Sasha tried as well.

"He shape shifted into a bird?" Bess joined the little game.

"Actually, a mix-up of all those; flight, transported by a creature summoned by his own power, with bird-like wings, flying in a very speedy way." Annabelle said, half-joking.

"Annabelle, Annabelle, Annabelle..." Charlie shook his head, chuckling. "You should have said 'Option Five; All of the Above' before explaining to us. Don't forget the importance of a proper introduction."

"I'll keep that in mind." Annabelle smiled before looking up in the sky. "How about that for a proper introduction?"

Annabelle's protegees looked up as well, gasping at the sight of the beautiful, glowing, flying horse approaching them. Once they got more or less used to its skin and wings' brightness, they finally noticed the canine knight riding it. Even if the horse hadn't been flying so high at the moment, they wouldn't be able to tell how this knight looked like since his helmet covered his face completely, except for the proper holes for the eyes and nose; the only thing they could deduce, from the helmet's form, was that this dog had a long muzzle, at least as big as Sasha or Charlie's, and the ears were pointy and more or less long; plus, the tail was barely visible; all this, put together, meant this dog was probably a Doberman or a mixed breed with Doberman-like inheritance.

"Wow. Now THAT is an entrance." Charlie admitted, admiring the flying creature and its rider as they finally landed. "And what's this horse's name? I'm sure I heard it in some movie..."

"Pegasus, Charlie." Annabelle explained. "The new super powered guardian got his celestial weaponry from a site in Greece, where Pegasus' story originated, including his tendency of assisting legendary heroes in extremely dangerous tasks. And just like a unicorn, Pegasus is such a noble, pure creature that his power is directly linked to Heaven's, so you need special spiritual abilities and/or a properly prepared celestial artifact to summon him."

As Annabelle explained this, the knight jumped down Pegasus, and, after thanking the noble horse for the ride, he took a long sword out from behind the shield (surprising Annabelle's companions, since the sword was notably larger than the shield) and pointed it at Pegasus. Then, the huge horse changed into pure, living light, and was literally absorbed by the weapon.

"Wow... now, that's how you can actually have a horse in a regular city apartment." Charlie commented as he and the others approached the knight. Itchy then got a weird yet familiar sensation in his nose; the same he had every time he got to sense a scent he knew but hadn't detected in ages. The Dachshund turned slightly to look at Annabelle, the archangel nodding at him, making Itchy realize he was right about the knight's identity.

"Glad to meet you, Sir." Sasha greeted the knight. "It's a pleasure to have you in our team."

"Thanks for the nice greeting." The knight finally spoke; even if the voice was a bit distorted due to the helmet, Charlie had no problems to recognize it, the German Shepherd wide opening his eyes in realization, and a bit of shock, not liking the idea of having this particular replacement.

"No. Way. In. Heaven." Charlie then placed himself right in front of the knight. "LANCE?"

"That's right, Charlie; nice to see you again." The knight finally opened his helmet, revealing his Doberman face.

"Oh, this is terrific." Charlie groaned before turning back at Annabelle. "No offense, Annabelle, but Lance already did too much without powers, and now you give him a full membership in the Round Table's Club, and with a flying horse as a bonus?"

"I understand what you mean, Charlie, but keep in mind this is a special case." Annabelle explained, the archangel knowing too well how much Charlie disliked having Lance around the last time, especially after Lance used him as a living bridge without the Doberman noticing it, and how Lance practically forced Charlie to quit when Itchy became Lance's temporary sidekick; it was even more frustrating due to the fact Lance didn't even realize he was doing wrong in those cases.

"Sasha isn't a powerless human female, but a super powered canine guardian angel; that means any enemy trying to get to her in order to eliminate or control The New Christ will most surely have super powers of his/her own in order to face both her and the rest of you." Annabelle continued. "This also means any replacement will need super abilities as well, both to cover for her, and to help you all defend Sasha and the non-born pups against any potential foe. And since we already know that Belladonna can give her protegees the weapons and/or abilities needed to drain Celestial Energy, Lance needed powers and weapons that can't be drained that easily."

"And besides, well..." Lance now got a humbler expression, very different from his usual formal, almost soldier-like stance, "I... had been checking out the reports of the... missions I did here the last time, and I realized about some mistakes I did without realizing it... some very serious mistakes, actually."

"Like the whole 'Let's use Charlie's spine as a bridge so we can move a piano out of a burning building', right?" Charlie frowned at the Doberman.

"Yes, that would be part of the list. Guess I could have stopped after saving the television set." Lance sighed and continued. "Besides, I now realized I practically stole your job... and even worse, I stole Itchy from you. That wasn't nice at all, and I had to be very self-centered... and maybe even a bit... dense, to not realizing it on my own at that moment."

"Yes, dense like ten feet thick concrete walls." Charlie groaned.

"But he's apologizing, Charlie. That's something." Sasha said to her husband. Charlie was about to argue when Itchy and Bess joined the conversation.

"And he'll be covering for Sasha, and help protect her and the pups; you can't be angry with anyone willing to defend Sasha." Bess added.

"And you said it before, Charlie; he was already a very capable guardian angel before, even without special powers, so now he must be even better. And considering the problems we've had with Manfred the last time, we'll need the best on our side." Itchy concluded.

Charlie took a few moments to think about this, but finally sighed and nodded, knowing they were right.

"As long as you remember you'll be our companion and not our leader, we'll be fine." Charlie looked back at Lance. "This is a Super Powered Guardian Angels Team, not Lance The Wonder Knight and his useless sidekicks. If we actually need someone to take a leadership role in the middle of a mission, we'll consider your experience, but you also have to consider our abilities and our own experience working all together as a team."

"That's fair enough. I accept your terms, Charlie; this is your city, your team, and your rules... or lack of them, if I remember right." Lance said; even with this new set of rules, Lance knew Charlie rarely followed a strict code, something Lance did on a regular basis. This made Lance a lot more organized and disciplined than Charlie, but also very limited when facing unexpected situations, Charlie's creative, resourceful way of thinking being quite an edge in those cases.

"Okay, if we're clear on that... welcome to the team, Sir Lance-A Lot." Charlie offered his paw to Lance, who smiled and shook it.

"Thanks, Charlie... oh, and the proper name would be Sir Lancelot, but I appreciate you comparing me with such a great hero..."

"That was a pun, Lance." Charlie smirked at him.

"Oh." Lance paused before getting an embarrassment grin. "Sorry, I'm not that good with jokes."

"Spend enough time with these guys, and you'll get a sense of humor... maybe not the funniest one, but a sense of humor is better than none." Annabelle commented jokingly, finally joining the conversation. "Oh, great, now I'm the one making lame jokes."

"Yes, we're a good influence on you." Charlie joked back.

Annabelle chuckled at this and shook her head, glad that Lance and Charlie had finally made peace. She had allowed them to talk about their previous problems as a way to work on their group dynamics and have a good start at working together. It would be a disaster if past feelings and resentment messed up a mission.

"Okay, now that we've worked that out, I think it's time for you all to show your powers to Lance, and later, he'll show his abilities to you." Annabelle turned back and forth from Lance to the other angels while talking. "This way, you'll know your companions' capacities and what to expect from them, plus how to be more useful in a battle or rescue."

Of course, the San Francisco's gang already knew each other's abilities quite well, and they were extremely well coordinated in battle, but Lance, even if he had been practicing his powers since getting them some days ago, was still a rookie when it came to super powered combat, so it was vital for the whole group to practice their powers along with the newcomer.

"I guess Sasha will not be joining us in the practice, right?" Lance asked. "After all, the reason I'm replacing her is because of her maternity leave..."

"Yes, Lance, I can't fight right now... or more precisely, I must avoid fighting, for my sake and the pups', but I can still use my powers in more passive, non violent ways. Like this." Sasha stretched her neck, torso and limbs, making herself long enough to cover a football field. Lance, impressed, dashed to reach her head, that was now very far from the rest of the body, so he could congratulate her face-to-face, and gasped when realizing he was talking to a reddish brown, blue-nosed version of himself. The others chuckled at Lance's surprised expression.

"Wow... that was good." Lance admitted to Sasha as she recovered her normal form yet still having a Doberman's face.

"Thanks. I had to improvise a bit with your head since I'd never morphed into a Doberman before today." Said Sasha as she mimicked Lances voice. Sasha then shooked her head and her Afghan features immediately replaced the Doberman's. "Heh, I really like how it feels when my body returns to normal, especially the head. Anyway, during my pregnancy, I just have to be careful about stretching my abdominal area," Sasha explained while rubbing her tummy, "because, obviously, the pups would resent the size and form change and I risk hurting them by mistake. I can also make my tummy's muscles a lot harder, or more cushioned, depending on the situation, so they will be safer during an unexpected situation that I can't avoid getting involved in, but for the most part I'll be out of action. Still, I can stretch the rest of my body to help, let's say, get a kitty down from a tree or something easy like that."

"I see. In other words, you'll not be defenseless during your pregnancy, but it will be safer for everyone involved if you take no risks on purpose." Lance commented.

"Exactly, Lance, and now you had seen Sasha's abilities, it's time to move on with the others." Annabelle said while Lance and Sasha returned to the others' side.

"Sasha already showed Lance her powers, and since ladies are always first, guess it's your turn now, Bess." Itchy said to his fiancee.

"Of course, Itchy. And since we're getting married..." Bess smiled before turning intangible and jumping inside Itchy's body. A few seconds later, after Itchy contorted a couple of times, a ghostly glow covered his body for a moment before cooling down. Then, 'he' looked at Lance yet talked with Bess' voice. "What's Itchy's is mine and what's mine is his, including the body."

"I... uh..." Lance was speechless for a few moments, something Charlie secretly enjoyed. When finally reacting, Lance gave Itchy's body a good look; now that the ghostly glow was gone, there was no way to tell Bess was in there.

"This doesn't hurt Itchy?" Lance asked.

"No, it doesn't. And I can control all his moves; in fact, I can talk with his voice." Bess did exactly that before her voice was heard again. "I'm just using my voice so you can see it's really me inside his body. Still, since this power pretty much limits or negates the possessed one's free will, I only use it for emergencies, or demonstrations like this one. And while I overshadow Itchy, I get access to his abilities while still conserving mine, like making myself invisible," again, Bess did the same things she was explaining, as she and Itchy vanished on thin air for a little moment before turning visible again, this time hovering over Lance, "flying and hovering", and then descended to touch Lance's face, "and of course, the basis of all the Overshadowing Power, the intangibility", Bess finished explaining as Itchy's paw became intangible and phased through Lance's muzzle without causing any damage.

"Like Charlie here would say... Talk about audiovisual aids." Lance said while Bess removed Itchy's paw from his face.

"Mmm... I would have said something among the lines of 'Wow, a demonstration with the public's interaction', but you didn't make it that bad." Charlie joked while Bess finally jumped out of Itchy's body, the Dachshund shaking his head once he got full control of his own body and mind.

"Thanks for the assistance, Itchy." Bess smiled at him before kissing the Dachshund's nose.

"Heh, you're welcome, Bess. You know I'll never deny you a chance for us to get closer." Itchy half-joked, smiling back at her.

"Okay, Itchy, since you already participated in the demonstration, in a certain way, it's your turn now." Annabelle and the ninja canine nodded at each other. Itchy moved a few steps away from the group in order to have more space to show his abilities to Lance.

Itchy summoned two short swords out of thin air, and then surprised everyone by making a very high vertical jump, ending on a nearby tree's branch. Then, he started cutting the tree's branches with swift, precise moves, for a minute or so, before jumping down to earth. The other dogs then realized Itchy had modeled the tree's branches and leaves so it would look like Bess' head, something that made the ghostly-powered gal to blush and smile.

"Heh... we watched the Edward Scissorshands movie last month." Bess commented, chuckling a bit and making the others to do as well.

"Nice gardening work, Itch, but now show us something a bit more powerful." Charlie suggested to the ninja canine.

"Okay... how about this?" Itchy summoned one of his most powerful ninja weapons, the giant shuriken. Then, he made a signal to Charlie, who understood it perfectly; the Elemental Dog used a powerful wind to lift one of the thickest branches that Itchy had cut from the tree and send it up to the air at high speed. Itchy then threw the shuriken at the branch, making a clean cut right in the middle, and then, in a boomerang-like effect, the shuriken returned and made another cut, this time hitting the 2 halves of the branch with such precision they were cut in half as well. When the shuriken got close enough to the ground, Itchy used another weapon he had just summoned, a Kunai with a chain, to catch the shuriken on mid flight and pull it back to him, the Dachshund effortlessly catching it with his free hand/paw.

"That... was amazing, Itchy; not just very powerful moves, but... the precision and accuracy... the way you do the cuts, it's almost like a doctor performing a very delicate surgery." Lance finally commented, once he got over his initial amazement.

"Thanks, Lance; I have to admit, Charlie helped me a bit with the boomerang effect; I used the wind currents he created to give the shuriken the right impulse and speed I needed to make it return." Itchy said before handling the shuriken to Lance. "If I use this weapon without any wind to help me create a curved throw, it just goes straight against, and through, anything I hit with it."

"I see... and it's heavy." Lance said while testing the shuriken's weight. This also impressed Itchy, because Lance was only using one paw/hand to hold the shuriken, that, as the Doberman rightly said, was quite heavy due the size of the weapon (almost Itchy's own) and the material's toughness.

"Well, since Charlie already helped me with the demonstration, guess now it's his turn." Itchy said while Lance handled the shuriken back to him and made it disappear.

"That's right; well, you already saw my wind power, so... how about, I copy your looks, Lance?" Charlie grinned, and, before Lance could ask what he meant, Charlie morphed his fur into a metallic substance.

"Ah... I see. You got your own armor. This is quite good." Lance said while touching Charlie's shoulder and back. Certainly, his new metallic fur was as hard and resistant as Lance's own body armor.

"Thanks. And I can also morph my body when I get this steel body." Charlie explained while his hands/paws transformed into metallic mallets, kitana blades, whips and even a large shield.

"It seems Sasha here isn't the only one with a malleable body, huh?" Lance chuckled a bit, visibly impressed with Charlie's talent; he didn't need a weapon because his whole body was one.

"And now, since we're at the forest... check this out." Charlie grinned before using his plant control abilities to make large vines to literally pop out of the ground and snare a nearby tree, literally wrapping the whole log in a matter of seconds.

"And this one so we don't get cold." Charlie used his fire power to create a Fire Stream around all the dogs. "And this one so we don't barbecue ourselves." The German Shepherd summoned a tidal wave that turned off the fire almost instantly.

"It seems you're pretty much at home here at the woods, Charlie. You even have your own supply of water and you don't worry about getting cold." Lance commented.

"Yes, but to really be at home at the woods, I have to do this." Charlie grinned before morphing into a huge bear, towering over Lance and the other canines.

"Heh, ready for hybernation, Charlie?" Itchy joked.

"No, not yet." Charlie, still as a bear, used his ice power to freeze the ground around them. "And this one is for later, when Spring comes and I need some warmth."

Charlie, changing back into his canine form, got surrounded by light, and soon his whole body became a construct of solar energy.

"He uses this trick to give me sunbaths at night." Sasha, chuckling, commented to the others. "And for the dinners under the moonlight..."

Charlie changed again, transforming into a being of Lunar Energy; he then combined this power with his Light and Darkness abilities to create an energy ball that looked exactly like a miniature full moon, surrounded by a shadow ring to give the effect of a nocturnal sky.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Itchy commented to Lance. "And you should see him giving me targets for my shooting practice."

Charlie, overhearing, changed back to normal and then literally planted his paws in the ground, and a few moments later, they got surrounded by a stalagmite field. Itchy, grinning, summoned not one but two giant shurikens, and then started throwing them at the stalagmites, doing perfect cuts, as usual, yet leaving one stalagmite untouched on purpose.

"Wanna get rid of the last one, Charlie?" Itchy said to his friend; Charlie, grinning, focused his attention on the remaining stalagmite, and made a powerful lightning bolt fall over it, destroying the rock instantly.

"You have quite an arsenal, Charlie." Lance said to the Elemental Canine.

"Heh, thanks. Okay, now it's your turn to show us your powers, Lance." Charlie replied while giving Lance the space he would need to show his abilities.

"Well, my armor enhances my strength and stamina, besides, obviously, my resistance to damage, but my real powers come from the sword and the shield." Lance took out the sword and started waving it around; then, everyone saw how flames covered the blade, until it was glowing as much as Pegasus' body, and then changed into a Zanbato.

"Charlie, can you provide me with a target, please?" Lance asked his companion. Charlie nodded and used his Earth power to create a large stalagmite. Lance charged at it with the Zanbato, making a clean cut, like Itchy's shurikens, with the bonus of partially melting the rock, creating some lava.

"Now, to cool it down a bit..." Lance pointed at the lava with his shield, that morphed into a kusarigama; after doing another fast move with the weapon, Lance summoned a water blast, as powerful as Charlie's wave, that cooled down the lava and changed it back into solid rock.

"I see... you have Elemental powers too." Charlie commented. "You have Forest Might too?"

"Yes, but I need to morph the shield again; my elemental powers only work when my normal weapons change into other forms." As Lance explained, his shield changed into a huge axe. The Doberman then stroke the ground with the axe's blade, and, almost immediately, hundreds of vines emerged from the ground, snaring a nearby tree; unlike Charlie's snare, Lance's grabbed the branches instead of wrapping the log.

"And now, to get rid of the vines..." Lance morphed the shield again, this time into a pair of nunchucks. After making some quick moves with them, that would make Bruce Lee proud, the nunchuks started sparking, and then, Lance charged at the vines, hitting them with the nunchucks, that made thunder-like noise when striking and produced a small yet powerful electrical blast in the impact's point.

"Wow... your powers aren't just like Charlie's, but as mine too." Itchy commented, visibly as impressed as the others.

"Except that I just change my weapons' shape instead of summoning new ones, Itchy. In that aspect, even if my weapons might be more powerful than yours, you can have a lot more weapons than me." Lance admitted while morphing the sword into a large hammer.

"Oh, I know what that one does. It helps you dance like this." Charlie, jokingly, started making some weird dance moves. "Hammer-time!"

"M.C. Hammer, Charlie? Really, that's too much." Sasha chuckled at her husband's antics.

"And, besides, it's not for dancing, but this hammer can make some music; basically, it 'rocks' your world." Lance grinned before hitting the ground with the hammer, creating a seismic wave. Anabelle, knowing about this capacity, was already floating to avoid the vibrations, but the other dogs almost fell down due the sudden tremor.

"No wonder you decided to receive Lance here at the woods, Annabelle." Bess said to the archangel. "At least, here, out of the city, there are no buildings that can fall down or get damaged during an earthquake."

"Or with a tornado." Annabelle pointed out before nodding at Lance, who then morphed both the sword and the shield into large shurikens, not as big as Itchy's summoned one, but far lighter and equally sharp.

Lance threw the shurikens and, instead of hitting a target, they started flying in circles, increasing the speed gradually until they were moving so fast a tornado was formed with the resulting wind; luckily, it wasn't a very big one, but it was strong enough so everyone could feel the wind's force.

"Whoa... how big can your tornadoes be?" Charlie asked Lance.

"I think they would all be limited to this size . I'd need to have more shurikens, or make these much bigger, in order to create a larger tornado." Lance replied before concentrating again, and calling back the shurikens with a mental order, the pointy weapons changing back into a shield and sword before falling on his hands.

"So far it seems you have all the elements covered... you have darkness and light powers too?" Charlie asked Lance while looking at the weapons.

Lance nodded before transforming his shield into a large scythe and moving it around, creating a dark beam that covered the whole area, before morphing the sword into a Tanto that produced a light so powerful it dissipated the darkness.

"The knight in bright armor has bright weapons too, and dark ones as well, uh?" Charlie grinned at this. In the past, he would have felt his position threatened by Lance, due to his having his same powers plus Itchy's, but now they were both a lot more mature and responsible, and less dense in Lance's case, so he could accept this. Besides, as Annabelle had pointed out, they'd need all the possible help in case Manfred or any other Belladona's minions attacked again.

"You said it. And, of course, I have this other ability." Lance morphed his weapons back to their normal forms, and then his armor disappeared, leaving him only with his usual collar with a heavenly tag/badge. "There's no way I could walk down the street, unnoticed, if wearing the armor all the time. And I need to keep my Knight identity secret, at least to humans, to avoid getting more attention than necessary. I'll already be very notorious when hanging around due to all the publicity I got the last time I visited here."

"Well, with some luck, people at the street will think you're just another Doberman... and let's hope no one gets scared enough to call Animal Control." Sasha pointed out. Even if Lance was very well known among the human population as a heroic canine, he was still a Doberman, a breed commonly associated with aggression due to Dobermans normally working as watchdogs and military ones, so one of this dogs walking around without a human holding it by a leash, or at least walking along with the dog, would probably cause some alarm among very susceptible persons.

"To make things easier, Lance will mostly appear in public as his heroic knight self, at least during day time, and appear as his own, non-armored self mostly at night. That can help him keep a low profile." Annabelle commented. "And besides, I can always teleport you all so you don't need to summon Pegasus for long distance travel."

As she was saying this, Annabelle was already summoning her teleportation light beam, and when she finished talking, all her protegees were at Sasha and Charlie's house.

"You don't just work in mysterious ways, Annabelle; you also work like this." Charlie grinned while snapping his fingers.

"I like efficiency." Annabelle grinned back. "Now, Lance, while you cover up for Sasha, you'll be Itchy's roommate; you obviously can't stay with Sasha and Charlie because they're newlyweds, and since Itchy and Bess aren't married yet, they still don't live together."

"No problem here. I'll like having a roommate again; besides, Lance can help me with the wedding plans." Itchy pointed out.

"You can count me in, Itchy... but I thought you'd ask Charlie for that." Lance said.

"Normally, yes, but he'll be busy enough with his new role as a father-to-be." Itchy nodded while pointing at Charlie and Sasha.

"I love how understanding you can be at times, Itchy." Charlie gave him a playful noggie.

"Well, I`m leaving you now so you can continue bonding as a team. See you later." Annabelle smiled before summoning her light beam and disappearing herself.

"I like how she makes her exits." Charlie smiled at his companions.

"Yes, she's great at whatever she does." Lance covered his muzzle after saying this, all the other dogs smirking at him.

"That didn't sound just like 'admiration for your boss' tone for me." Bess gave Lance a knowing look.

"Uh... eh... So, Itchy, about the sleeping arrangements..."

Itchy laughed at Lance's attempt to change subjects, and then the whole group started discussing ways to coordinate Lance's attacks with the others', plus Bess and Sasha discussing ideas for a baby shower.


	3. Team's Dynamics

Chapter 3 - Team's Dynamics

"So, Sasha, you got everything you need? More bones? Water? Pizza?" Charlie asked his wife while setting several recipients around their bed, all of them filled with a particular food or drink.

"Charlie, you already gave me enough meals to feed a sled dogs' team." Sasha chuckled. "Seriously, I'm fine. Remember I'm just in the first month of pregnancy, and it will still be a long time before I actually have problems to move... and even then, I can always stretch my neck or my limbs to grab stuff without moving from the bed... Heh, it would be one of the few times I use my powers for fun instead of work."

"I know, I know, but... well, you know, pregnant females have to eat a lot more than usual..." Charlie grinned while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yes, but I`m an Afghan, not a Saint Bernard." Sasha smiled at him before stretching her arm to grab Charlie and pull him in front of her for a long, loving kiss. "Now, go with the others; they're already waiting for you."

"Heh... okay, Sasha, just remember, if you need anything..."

"I'll start howling, or I'll call Anabelle, or I'll use a flag to make signals to ask for assistance." Sasha rolled her eyes while morphing her other paw into a classic white flag.

"I know I'm going a bit too far, Sasha... it's just that, well, it's the first time we'll be parents, and..."

"Trust me, I`m nervous too, but we're not helping the pups if we both start sweating bullets when the little ones aren't even near the birth time."

"That's why you have to be the calm parent. Let me be the worried one." Charlie chuckled before kissing her one last time before starting to walk out of the room. "Be back later, Sexy Mommy."

"I'll be waiting, Worried Daddy." Sasha grinned back at Charlie; when he left the room, she took a deep breath and sighed. She loved Charlie a lot, but since they had returned home, he had been in a complete overprotective overdrive; he went as far as moving their water bowls next to the bed in case she needed a night drink, despite the fact the bowls, originally, weren't more than 5 feet away and she could just stretch her neck to reach them without doing any effort.

"Hope he cools down as the pregnancy progresses." Sasha thought out loud before looking at the food recipients, and focusing on one that had several dog biscuits. "On the other paw... I don't mind getting some extra snacks."

Sasha stretched her tongue, grabbing a snack with it, and then yanking the food inside her mouth in a quick move. There were a few things about pregnancy she was actually enjoying, and she was more than willing to continue doing it; especially thanks to her, she admitted, weird powers yet extremely useful ones that allowed her to get stuff without needing to move from her resting spot.

Meanwhile, Charlie was using his wind powers to move top speed over the rooftops and arrive to the one where he'd be joining Itchy, Bess and Lance. They'd do one of their routine surveillance walks (or flights, or jumps, or whatever they felt like using that day), and it was very important since it would be the first one they'd do with Lance.

"Sorry I`m late." Charlie said while landing at the rooftop; not surprisingly, the others were already there. "Paternal duties and all that."

"It's okay, Charlie. We already were discussing that you would probably be late because you'd not leave home without making sure Sasha was completely comfortable." Bess commented him.

"And now that you mention it, remind me to thank all the guys who gave us the extra food again ." Charlie said; since they returned home, and commented some of their neighbors that Sasha was already pregnant, many thankful dogs, and even a few cats, had been visiting the couple, most of them bringing useful gifts like dog toys and assorted foods.

"We'll do. Okay, let`s get moving." Itchy said to the others, who nodded and followed him. Usually, Charlie was the one leading the group when they moved around, but it wasn't strange for Itchy to do as well, especially since he was the one who knew the rooftops' routes the best besides Charlie himself.

Lance hesitated a bit before jumping from a rooftop to the other one, despite his now enhanced speed and agility; after all, the last time he was at the city, Charlie had to rescue him from falling to the street when Lance failed to reach a rooftop after jumping from another one. The armor, that gave Lance enough protection against most damage, only made him more nervous in this case, since, even if Lance barely felt the armor's weight, it was still extra weight, and Lance couldn't help to feel himself heavier than usual, a big problem when needing to jump a long distance. However, after jumping a few times, Lance felt his confidence returning and could follow the others without problems; it helped a lot that Charlie gave him an extra push with his elemental wind powers on the first jumps.

"This is a very interesting way of patrolling, but wouldn't it be easier, and safer, to do it at street level?" Lance asked his companions, also noticing Bess wasn't around.

"It's faster than you can imagine, plus you attract less attention, especially considering the way we're dressed." Charlie commented.

"Besides, Bess is already at street level, using her invisibility and intagibility so nobody notices her." Itchy added, clearing out why Bess wasn't with them at the moment.

After a couple of hours, the group had offered minor yet important assistance to several dogs, mostly for easy, not that dangerous stuff, like retrieving a toy from under a car, or helping a pup cross the street. It was much later, when the group was taking a break, that things got a lot more serious. While they were resting on a rooftop, a large black cat approached them, the cat visibly shaken and panting, because he had run a long distance in a short time.

"Good... I found you..." The cat tried to catch his breath back.

"Hey, cool down, Catty-Boy." Charlie moved in front of the cat, trying to not being too intimidating (after all, he was still a dog, and could be intimidating to an average feline), while the others listened. "Not that common for a cat to be searching for dogs, so I guess you already know we're Guardian Angels."

"Yes... one of you... the elastic one... helped a cousin of mine down from a tree some time ago..." The cat finally started talking normally. "Anyway... I was at the docks... looking for some fish on the dumpsters... and I saw this ship... sinking!"

This got the dogs' attention practically instantly.

"What? And how long since that happened?" Lance asked.

"I saw when the ship started sinking... it couldn't be more than 20 or 30 minutes ago." The cat added.

"Okay, a ship takes a lot of time to completely sink, but the people in there might still need assistance." Lance said to his companions.

"Then, let`s lose no time. Lance, call your horse so we can get there faster." Charlie said to the Doberman; Lance nodded and took out his sword, using it to summon Pegasus... something that, obviously, gave the cat quite the scare.

"Thanks for telling us!" Itchy said to the cat while jumping on Pegasus' back, behind Lance, while Bess and Charlie, who had flying powers themselves, were already on their way. The feline, mute by the impression, just nodded and waved bye while the winged horse started flying away.

"Either I just saw a miracle... or I've gotta cut down on the cat-nip for a while." The cat rubbed his head, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

The group arrived to the docks in practically no time. Most people didn't see Pegasus since most of those present at the docks were too busy looking at the sinking ship; it was now half-way underwater, and the human rescue teams were still nowhere to be seen. Charlie and Bess landed at a warehouse's rooftop and waited for Lance and Itchy to arrive in Pegasus.

"Why you didn't go there to start rescuing people?" Lance asked Charlie and Bess, the Doberman visibly surprised since, in these emergency situations, time was crucial.

"Two flying dogs would be quite scary, Lance, and that's under normal conditions. Now imagine how much we'd scare people that it's already panicked due to a disaster, and we add a flying horse." Bess explained.

"Yes, this will need a more... subtle approach." Charlie thought for a moment before coming with an idea. "Bess, you make yourself invisible, and go to the ship to help people without getting noticed. Itchy, you go see why the rescue teams hadn't arrived; if that cat was saying the truth, this emergency had lasted long enough, and it's weird we don't even have an ambulance arriving."

Bess and Itchy nodded and did as Charlie told them.

"What about us?" Lance asked Charlie while the Doberman de-summoned Pegasus, now completely agreeing than a flying horse wasn't the best aid at this time.

"We have to gain time for the rescue teams." Charlie said to Lance, motioning the Knight Dog to follow him.

Meanwhile, Bess was already at the cruise, using her invisibility to help people in subtle ways, mostly to push them away from the sides of the ship and helping some persons regain balance when they were about to fall. To help in more active ways, Bess overshadowed some persons, a few seconds each, so she could use the human's body to help with some particularly important task, like securing a part of the ship that was about to break apart, and even cooling down some hysterical humans, with Bess controlling their anxiety before leaving their bodies. Due to the general panic and stress, everyone at the cruise, including the possessed persons, thought these acts were instinctive actions and didn't give too much importance to them.

"Hey, it's my imagination, or this time is floating a bit more?" A random passenger thought out loud. Bess, who was next to him, noticed he was right, and the cruise was no longer sinking, and in fact seemed to regain flotation. The ghost canine used her intangibility to phase through and down the ship, finally getting her head out and under the ship's flotation marks, to give a good look of what was happening underwater.

Bess was quite surprised when spotting a powerful underwater twister, and even more surprised when realizing it was pushing up the ship instead of sucking it down, as it would normally happen. Bess smiled when realizing what was going on.

Back at the docks, and away from the people watching the accident, Charlie and Lance were touching the water, Charlie with both his front paws and Lance with his Kusarigama; by using their energies to the max yet in a very focused point, both dogs could create an incredibly powerful water current that kept the cruise from sinking yet without agitating the sea, something that would make very hard for any other ship to approach plus being too dangerous for any human that Bess couldn't stop from falling.

Charlie and Lance smiled when noticing several smaller ships, some of them from the Coast Guard and others from helpful civilians, approaching the cruise. The ships' crew helped the passengers and the cruise's staff to get out of the large ship, without knowing the 2 Elemental-powered dogs were making things easier for them by keeping the massive cruise floating, and that the Ghostly one was still keeping the nervous passengers under control. The whole evacuation took around 15 minutes since the cruise had several hundred persons on board and it wasn't easy to get them moving to safety in an ordered way, but it was eventually done, without any casualties or injuries. When the last passenger left the cruise, Bess flew away from it and made herself partially visible so Lance and Charlie could see their work was done, and the 2 male angels stopped the twister. It didn't take too much for the whole cruise to sink down without the dogs' powers to keep it floating.

"Hope that overgrown bathtub is insured." Charlie half joked while he, Lance and a now visible Bess looked at the shrinking cruise. "Well done, guy and gal."

"You are welcome. You and Lance did an excellent job, Charlie." Bess smiled before getting a slightly concerned look. "And wonder why Itchy hadn't returned."

"I was thinking around the same lines. Also, besides the Coast Guard, I see no other rescue teams or officers around here... not even a patrol car." Lance frowned. "What happened with this city's officers response time? I'd hate to be dependant on them during an emergency."

"Mmm... let me take a look around." Charlie morphed into a hawk, and then flew up to the sky. With his superior bird of prey's sight, he could get a telescopic look around with little effort. The dog/bird then flew back with his companions, talking in his normal voice.

"Guys, I saw why Itchy and the police aren't here. We have the day's special; two emergencies for the price of one, first one by water, and the second by fire."

A few minutes later, Lance (riding Pegasus), Bess and Charlie, the latter still in his hawk form, were flying right over a burning building, it was quite a large one, no less than 20 stories high, and the fire was already extending to the rest of the block, and producing so much thick smoke that the flying dogs and horse were unnoticed. Not surprisingly, several firefighters were at the scene, trying to suffocate the flames, while the police was keeping people away and trying to help the fire brigades and ambulances do their work. The 3 Canine Guardians then spotted the fourth one, Itchy, already helping as well, jumping from the burning building's windows to the nearby rooftops, carrying the trapped pets (dogs, cats, caged birds and even goldfish inside their bowls), plus making work easier for the human rescuers and victims by breaking apart some obstacles like doors and fallen furniture, without the humans realizing it, so they could move more easily inside the building.

"Okay, this is where being normal dogs can help more than being super ones." Charlie said to his companions while he morphed back to his normal self and landed at the burning building's rooftop. "I'll go in there and see if I can help any trapped victims; they'll probably think I'm one of the firefighters' rescue dogs. Bess, you get invisible again, and help the firefighters, and Lance..."

"Now I have an idea, Charlie." Lance interrupted Charlie while patting Pegasus' side. "This time, my horse friend will help us, and we can make it look like a favour from Mother Nature."

After discussing his idea with Charlie and Bess, and getting a more than good natured approval, the trio got back to work. Like Charlie said, he and Bess entered the building to help with the rescues, while Lance and Pegasus went to execute the Doberman's plan.

A few seconds later, thanks to the flying horse's powerful wings, Lance was right over the clouds, and then morphed his shield and sword again, this time into his giant shuriken and, again, the Kusarigama; the Doberman threw the shuriken, that started making large, wide circles around him and Pegasus, creating a powerful air current that attracted all the clouds around, positioning them right over the affected block. Then, by using the Kusarigama, Lance attracted all the water molecules in the atmosphere and basically filled the clouds with liquid. Once the clouds were large enough, Lance transformed both the shield and sword into Nunchucks, and by moving them at high speed, produced a series of powerful lightning strikes that pretty much 'detonated' the rain, making the clouds release all the water. The result was a heavy rain, perfectly focused on the burning building and the rest of the block, that besides helping the firefighters control the flames more easily, it also protected the nearby constructions so the fire wouldn't extend to them. Lance smiled in satisfaction yet decided to stay on his place, in case the fire was more resistant than expected, in which case he would need to create more rain; plus, he had to be sure the wind wouldn't increase the fire's intensity; if that happened, Lance would need to create a counter-wind. At first, Lance was tempted to use his ice power as well, since snow, or at least icy water, would do a better job than regular rain, but then remembered that it would also be an obstacle for the rescuers, especially the human ones.

Back at the building, everyone was thankful by the sudden rain, and the ones knowing the forces behind it (in other words, Charlie and Bess, knowing this was Lance's work) silently praised the Doberman's work while they continued in their own rescues. Bess had reunited with Itchy and told him what the others were doing before she left him again so the Dachshund could continue with his own rescues and Bess could keep assisting the firefighters, the main aid she had provided so far was carrying a firefighter who needed to jump over a hole at a corridor, the Ghostly Gal making the man feel her supernatural lift like a very good adrenaline-induced jump.

Meanwhile, Charlie was doing a decent job leading trapped people through the smoke filled corridors; as he expected, they all thought Charlie was a police or firefighters' rescue dog, so they had no problems to get a hold on his collar or tail as the German Shepherd guided them out of the building or with the official rescue teams.

"_It seems we already evacuated this whole place." _Charlie thought, but decided to make one last check-up by using an ability he had been practicing. The dog morphed into a bat, and started flying around the building, using both his enhanced hearing and radar senses to look for people or pets left behind. Then, he heard someone's yelling coming from a room that still had a lot of fire around it.

The bat morphed back to his natural dog shape and approached the room, ready to use an icy wind or a water blast to turn off the flames, when the floor under his feet crumbled apart; Charlie, out of pure instinct, tried to morph into a flying animal, but since, at that time, he was trying to decide on either an ice or water attack to extinguish the fire, his subconscious mind, somehow, mixed both commands, the instinctive and the planned one, and, as a consequence, mixed Charlie's shapeshifting power with his water abilities as well. Before realizing it, Charlie's limbs stretched as much as Sasha's could, allowing him to get a hold on a nearby column, hugging it tightly. Charlie was stunned for a moment, not believing what just happened, but then got enough self-control to pull himself out of the hole, the canine soon safe and sound next to the flaming room.

"Okaaaay... I know Sasha and I are supposed to share everything, but I didn't know it would include our super powers." Charlie thought out loud while making his limbs return to their natural size; luckily, due to all the practice he had at morphing into both larger and smaller animals, this was relatively easy for him. "I'll have to check this later. In the meantime, I still have to turn off this fire."

Charlie, again completely focused on the rescue, used his ice power to freeze the whole corridor, eliminating the flames around the room. When he entered to see who was yelling in order to rescue him/her, the Elemental Canine gasped when looking at a large fire imp; he had seen some similar in the past, all of them working for Belladonna, but this one was notably larger and stronger-looking than the others, not to mention he seemed to have a mind of its own, unlike most of the other imps, that normally were brainless minions.

"Hello Charlie Barkin, do you remember what I am?" The fire creature confirmed his intelligence by talking in a refined yet still creepy-sounding way, that seemed to taunt Charlie.

"Yeah, you're one of Belladonna's fire imps. You caused this mess?" Charlie growled, ready to attack the imp if necessary. "Don't tell me you imps are organizing a barbecue and you're in charge of the grill."

"Oh, no, but I love the comparison." The imp grinned at Charlie, his mouth showing an infernal glow when doing it. "In reality, I had to run an errand, and well, I like to feel at home when I have to make a visit."

"Why are you here?" Charlie got closer to the imp, not losing sight of any of the creature's moves.

"Just to give you a message, Mister Barkin; get ready for a nice, extended visit from my mistress." The imp's words made Charlie to wide open his eyes in surprise. "Yes, you heard me right. My 'dear' boss, Belladonna, will be free soon, and she wants to 'thank' you and your friends for the treatment she received the last time."

"No, that's impossible, me and Jake sealed her away in Hell; she's not supposed to get out." Charlie said, visibly surprised.

"Ah, yes, the Anti-Christ... very smart from you, to turn a hellish disciple into a warrior of faith; even we have to admit it's a touch of brilliant irony." The imp grinned evilly at Charlie. "Still, you should know by now that, if your side can perform miracles, our side can do equivalent feats, just without the whole 'common good' in mind. And this is particularly truth when a very powerful, cosmically import event happens, like the birth of a new Messiah."

Charlie tensed and felt as if a million lightning volts had attacked him at once; Belladonna knew it.

"Don't be that surprised, Mister Barkin. After all, such an event is so important that it's impossible not to feel it. And, since Belladonna is the demon in charge of corrupting your kind, she could accurately tell that the new Christ would be a canine. And the moment she's free, well, let's say that she'll bring literal Hell on Earth to both the mother and the pup... and of course, all the other pups in that litter. Makes you regret the fact you dogs usually are born in groups, uh?"

"Okay, you, Overgrown Matchbox, now I have a message for you to deliver; tell your "mistress" that, if she lays a paw on my Sasha, I'll send her back to hell with an scar that she'll never recover from... and that's if I leave enough of her in one piece to return to Hell!" Charlie practically roared at the last part.

"Hmm, good luck, Chuckie Boy." The imp said, insulting Charlie with his mocking, superiority tone. "Better dogs than you have tried to get rid of her, and they've all failed."

"Those dogs didn't have such a good reason to fight back." Charlie growled at the imp.

"Touché. Okay, Mister Barkin... let the games begin." The imp summoned a huge flame that engulfed him completely, and then, as quick as it appeared, the flame extinguished on its own and the fire monster was now gone.

Charlie now had a very stern, thoughtful expression. If Belladonna was back, and if she was going after Sasha and their pups, then he'd become Belladonna's own personal demon.

"Charlie, we evacuated the whole building and the fire is almost completely under control." Itchy's voice made Charlie react; the Dachshund was now just a couple of feet behind him. "You found any other victim?"

"No... but we might have new victims to rescue pretty soon." Charlie sighed and looked back at Itchy. "Well done, Itch; tell Bess and Lance to meet with me and Sasha at our place. I have to go see her right now."

"Wow. I know you love her, Charlie, but you're already missing her this much after just a few hours of being apart..." Itchy stopped talking when noticing Charlie's worried looks. "Charlie, what's wrong?"

"The usual that happens whenever there's something 'wrong' in our life." Charlie dashed to the closest window, and when noticing there was still enough smoke, plus some heavy raining, to cover his exit from any curious human, the German Shepherd transformed into a swallow and flew away.

"Something wrong..." Itchy wide opened his eyes in realization. "Belladonna is back."

The 'swallow form' was one of Charlie less used animal shapes, since it wasn't a native San Francisco's bird and therefore attracted too much attention when some human happened to see him, but it was certainly useful for a quick, emergency flight, due to swallows being birds with fast, acrobatic flying abilities, and also being smaller than pigeons, allowing Charlie to fly top speed and use alleys and even open windows as short cuts. Thanks to this, Charlie returned home in less than half the time he would have needed with other birds or even with his wind power.

"Charlie?" Sasha noticed the bird entering the room, and smiled when it changed back into her husband. "My, you really were in a hurry to be with me. I missed you too, Love..."

"Sasha, are you okay? You're not hurt? Sick? Have you smelled brimstone around here? Had you seen anything weird, crazy or dangerous?" Charlie was talking so fast that Sasha had problems to understand him at first, especially by the way he was now holding her by the shoulders and looking at her with a very concerned, anxious expression.

"Charlie, calm down; the only 'crazy' thing I've seen all day is you, right now." Sasha talked in a calm, nice way, while caressing his cheeks and back, trying to cool him down. "What happened?"

"Okaaaay... I have 3 news for you; a good one, a bad one, and the worst. Which one do you want to hear the first?" The German Shepherd, a bit more calm now but still very concerned, took a deep breath and sat in front of Sasha.

"First the bad and the worst; that way you can cheer me up with the good one." Sasha, now getting worried as well, tried to keep her calm attitude.

"Well... the bad one... is that our less favorite hellish gal is back in town."

"Belladonna?" Sasha, due to her elastic powers, got eyes the size of saucers; she shook her head to get them back to normal. "B-but that's impossible..."

"Said the gal with elasticity powers, carrying the Messiah inside her, to her elemental powered husband, after they got married in Heaven." Charlie sighed. "It seems Belladonna isn't entirely free, yet, but she's already sending her minions to 'heat' things up a little, literally; I just ran into one of her Fire Imps when we were fighting a fire in a building. And he told me she's getting ready to pay us another visit."

"That demon is like a cockroaches plague... no matter how many times you get rid of her, she finds a way to return." Sasha groaned. "Don't tell me there's another news even worse than this one."

"I hate to tell you this, but yeah, I have even worse news. Belladonna... she knows about our pups."

"Y-you mean she knows about..." Sasha, instinctively, stretched her arms to hug her belly in a protective way.

"Yes. Apparently, a cosmic reincarnation is such an important event it's impossible to keep it secret." Charlie looked down. "And since we have the 'honor' of Belladonna being the demon in charge of dogs' corruption, she's in charge of attacking the Messiah... and I'm just guessing this, but I think this means the other demons are backing her up. That would explain why she'll be able to escape, because she'll have all the powers in Hell helping her."

"Charlie... our pups..." Sasha was now looking very sad and concerned by now; then, she got comforted by Charlie's arms hugging her... and she noticed his arms were now covering her whole body.

"Charlie, how do you... I mean... your powers... mine..." Sasha forgot, at least for a moment, about Belladonna's threat, with Charlie's new display surprising her a lot.

"Yes, this is the good one." Charlie smiled at her, happy that he could use this new power to calm her down. "And now I know why you like hugging me this way; it feels great."

"I know, but how can you do this? Annabelle..."

"Nope, our Boss Gal wasn't involved at all... except the part of her giving me the other powers some time ago, but that part you already know." Charlie morphed his arms back to normal. "Anyway, back at the fire, I wanted to use my water powers at the same time my body started morphing by instinct because I was falling through a hole... and next thing I knew, I was copying your Elastigirl trick. I'll need to talk with Annabelle later, but my guess is that my powers got mixed up, so my shapeshifting, instead of morphing me into an animal, made my body get liquid-like abilities without actually changing me into a puddle... and I don't mean a French one, but a real puddle."

"It makes sense. Annabelle had told me that my body has the same adaptability of water, and I would actually be able to change into liquid rubber if concentrating hard enough." Sasha thought out loud. "You can morph into all kind of animals, including creatures far smaller or much bigger than yourself, so it's logic to assume your body is as adaptable as mine."

"And I have to tell you, it's kinda fun." Charlie smiled while stretching his torso and belly, making him a very long dog, and, at the same time, shortened his legs, and made his ears to fall down and grow a bit longer. "Heh, look, a Dachshund in a German Shepherd's body. Itchy is gonna love this one."

Sasha chuckled a bit at this, which encouraged Charlie to try another shape. He took a deep breath and changed back to his normal self before inflating his muscles until he was the equivalent of a canine body builder.

"And now, competing for Mister Canine Universe... Dog Ferrigno!" Charlie joked, making Sasha to laugh even more. "Or even better..."

Charlie morphed into a very thin, small version of his normal self.

"Don't make me angry. You'll not like me when I'm angry." Charlie then pretended to be in pain and started growling while his body turned overly muscular again. "Groar! Chulk Smash!"

"Oooh... not bad, Chulk, but you're not the strongest one." Sasha grinned before morphing her chest and arms, becoming even more muscular and bigger than Charlie. 'Heh. Fear my Girl Power."

"Yes, Ma'am." Charlie got a submissive pose before morphing into a very small version of himself, almost as little as a Chihuahua. Charlie grinned and then reduced his fur's length, to actually look like a Chihuahua. "Hey, Mrs. Sasha, _**yo quiero Taco Bell**_**.**"

"And that's all the Spanish you know." Sasha, chuckling, morphed her arms back to normal before making them long and thin, and using them to cover Charlie like a blanket., or, more precisely, a huge tortilla. "There. I made you a taco."

"This feels more like a burrito." Charlie popped his head out of the 'tortilla`, his head and face already morphed into a donkey's.

"Cut that, Donkey." Sasha, chuckling, morphed her head to look like a very famous movie ogre.

"Hey, the donkey is married to a dragon." Charlie grinned, making Sasha to laugh again while she transformed her head and neck to mimic a dragon's.

"So, you want me to breath fire on you, or kiss you?" Sasha, still with a dragon head, smiled at Charlie.

"Mmm... I had enough fire for today, so I'll take a kiss, please." Charlie smiled back, and then the couple kissed lovingly.

"Okaaaay... I'm seeing a dragon kissing a donkey taco. Please, someone tell me I'm not hallucinating."

Sasha and Charlie stopped kissing when hearing Lance's voice; the Doberman was at the door, quite stunned, while Bess and Itchy were next to him, trying to hold back laughter.

"Stay around a bit more, and this will not be the craziest thing you'll see these two doing when they think nobody will spot them." Itchy couldn't help but chuckle a bit when talking.

"Perfect timing, guys." Charlie said to his friends while Sasha released him, and the Elemental Guardian morphed back to normal.

"Sorry, Charlie, but Annabelle gave us holy weaponry, ghostly powers and/or enhanced physical abilities... but no timing powers." Bess smiled while she, Lance and Itchy sat around the married couple. "Okay, Itchy told us something about Belladonna and that you knew something about her. Can you... elaborate?"

Charlie nodded and sighed while Sasha took a deep breath and made herself comfortable; now that the little yet very appreciated comedic relief was over, it was time to get back to the very serious business at hand. And Sasha made a mental note about getting ready herself in case she had to defend her pups against Belladonna.

"_Demon or not, Belladonna will see that's not a good idea to make a mother angry._" Sasha thought while Charlie started explaining to the others.


	4. She's Back

Chapter 4 - She's Back

"Belladonna... I knew the Hellish Forces would get involved, but I never thought they would send Belladonna again." Annabelle, using a mirror in Sasha and Charlie's room, was having a conference with her protegees.

"Neither do any of us." Bess said, visibly worried. "We thought she would probably send Manfred again, or some new protegee of her, but Belladonna herself..."

"Yes, she's supposed to be sealed forever. Don't tell me that seal has an expiration date." Charlie groaned. "And can't we just... I don't know, make the seal stronger of something?"

"I'm afraid not Charles." Annabelle explained; using Charlie's formal name was a clear indication she was particularly serious this time. " You see, in order to make the seal more effective, you needed both the powers of Darkness and Light, and you only had the powers of Darkness, namely Jake's, who has an incredible amount of raw dark energy but very little formal training in how to use it; and without the Light, the seal was temporary... still, with all the power involved, this 'temporary' was supposed to last at least a century or two."

"Either Hell works with a different calendar, or something happened that weakened the seal before time." Charlie frowned, more thoughtful than anyone had ever seen him before.

"I'm guessing here, but, as you correctly assumed, Charles, Belladonna, at this moment, has the whole power of Hell backing her up. Demons aren't famous for being cooperative among themselves, but they can join forces at times, usually in a 'you scratch my back and I scratch yours' system, but they all know about how important the Messiah is for us and everyone on Earth, and since they also know Belladonna is the one supposed to handle canine situations, it wouldn't surprise me if they all agreed on combining all their efforts and resources to break the seal and release her. After all, it was designed specifically for Belladonna, and therefore its resistance against different demons isn't as impressive, especially against several powerful demons working all at once."

"Then, we're not facing just Belladonna's minions, but the devil herself, literally." Lance frowned.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Itchy asked.

"As usual, we'll expect the best, and getting ready for the worst." Annabelle sighed. "I'll be monitoring everything from here, and you all have to train harder in order to work to the max as a team. You all did a great job today, in both disasters, but a direct confrontation against Belladonna might be a different story."

"Yes, and we all have the mental scars to prove it." Sasha commented before getting quite serious. "But, Messiah or not, we're not letting that demon lay a paw in any of mine's and pups."

"You said it, Sasha. If Belladonna thinks she can just walk in here as if she owned the place and hurt you or our pups, we'll show her that Heaven can be as scary as Hell when the angels are angry enough." Charlie nodded at his wife while giving her a reassuring look.

"Okay, then we have a plan." Annabelle got everyone's attention again. "We'll intensify the training sessions so you all can work perfectly as a team. Also, on a nicer note, I don't want you dogs to interrupt the preparations for Itchy and Bess' wedding."

"You think it's convenient, Annabelle?" Itchy asked. "I can't think about anything better than getting married to Bess, but with Belladonna around, and Sasha and Charlie's pups on the line, I think we can wait a bit more."

"I know, Itchy, but Belladonna is already trying to ruin an otherwise joyful event, and the last thing we need is allowing her to ruin another one." Annabelle told him. "Of course, the wedding will need to be delayed for a while, since we'll all be busy with the most urgent matters, but we're not cancelling it. And in order to celebrate it properly when we have the chance, we can't interrupt the preparations."

Everyone agreed with Annabelle's words, and then they started planning the training schedules plus working on some of the wedding's details.

Meanwhile, at the other side of town, another dog was working on a different plan. Manfred was enjoying being out after a very long time in Hell; as much as he enjoyed the special 'treatment' Belladonna gave to him (something he replied with the same 'generosity'), it was still good to feel the heat from the sun on his face and back instead of one coming from the infernal flames, and even the most polluted air was as enjoyable as a sweet meaty scent compared to the decayed flesh and brimstone's smells.

"Okay, enough of this. Back to work." Manfred dashed to a nearby junkyard, where, according to Belladonna, he'd find what was left of his Metallic Wolf Pack. After their defeat in the alley, they, somehow, were able to escape, but were so badly damaged they couldn't make it too far, or get Belladonna's assistance, and, by mere instinct, they searched for a place to die, one that reminded the wolves of their own metallic nature. It wasn't that surprising that Manfred found the first one on top of the rusty remains of an old van.

"You had seen better days." Manfred talked to the inanimate metal canid before taking out a replacement of the box he had used to transport the wolves the first time. The box literally sucked the wolf's corpse inside it, and Manfred, grinning, moved around to find another wolf. The others weren't as easy to find as the first one, since, like most real, flesh and bone animals, the metal wolves tried to find a safe shelter before dying, so they were hidden among the scrap metal instead of being at plain sight as the first wolf Manfred found, obviously one that was so weakened by the time it entered the junkyard that it had no time or energy left to hide before stopping moving. Luckily, Manfred's enhanced smelling sense and him now being familiar with hellish magic, made the search easier for him.

"Okay... here's another one." Manfred moved a very old, damaged fridge aside, revealing a metal wolf under it. After the box sucked this wolf, Manfred couldn't help but chuckle when realizing what the canine's body had been covering.

"I used to play with this when it was in stores." Manfred grinned while holding a dust-covered board game. "Wonder who dumped this... ah, well, I didn't come here to play."

"_Manfred, wait."_

Manfred heard Belladonna's voice coming from nowhere before remembering this new ability. This time, Belladonna didn't need a mirror or a puddle to communicate with Manfred; due to all the time they had spent in a very 'close' situation, they now had a mental link, yet Belladonna told Manfred she'd only use this trick to contact him when there were no reflective surfaces around; after all, even demons enjoyed having some mental privacy.

"What, Mistress? Don't tell me you want this game. I think we have better ways to entertain ourselves."

"_Oh, yes, we have, but that's not why I want you to retrieve the game. To answer your question, the ones who dumped this game were two old protegees of mine... who got to hate it after a bad experience." _Manfred could actually picture Belladonna's grin in his mind. "_Bring it back, and I'll show you how a demon can turn the most innocent idea into a dangerous one."_

"As you wish, my Malevolent Mistress." Manfred grinned and started carrying the board game in his muzzle while searching for the last metal wolf; he found it inside a very wrecked van's remains. After collecting it, Manfred returned to Hell via a flame transportation, very similar to the light beams Annabelle used with her own protegees.

The next days were very busy for the Heavenly Group. Besides continuing with Bess and Itchy's wedding plans, and going on their everyday patrols around the city, they trained at least 5 hours a day in order to improve their teamwork and perfect their attack moves. To make things harder, Annabelle had to create a celestial energy dome around them when they were training, so Belladonna couldn't see what was going on with them; this trick was very exhausting for Annabelle, especially since she had to maintain it for several hours a day, which also explained why the archangel rarely had used this ability of hers in the past, especially for such an extended period of time.

"Ooof... Annabelle, I know all dogs go Heaven, but if we continue training like this, Belladonna will not need to eliminate us... we'll all drop dead at the spot." Charlie said to his 'boss' while taking a break, the German Shepherd dropping himself in his and Sasha's bed. Lance, Itchy and Bess, even if not nearly as used to talk to Annabelle in this way, couldn't help but agreeing with Charlie.

"I know, Charlie; this is very stressful for me as well. Still, we can't get distracted. Belladonna can strike at any moment." Annabelle sighed, not looking too fresh herself.

"We know, Annabelle, and we thank you for your help, but... this is going too far." Sasha groaned. "I hadn't been able to put a paw outside this room for several days now. I feel as if I were a prisoner at my own house."

Since it was still very early in her pregnancy, and Sasha had elasticity powers, her state wasn't very apparent yet; however, she was slowly showing a light increase in her belly's size. Sasha could disguise it with a minor shift of her body, but it became more visible when she was relaxed and not focusing on keeping the appearances. Due to her no longer being able to shape shift in extreme ways, at least her torso area, and the fact she would barely shape shift at all later in her pregnancy, it would soon be very obvious she was a pregnant female, making her an even more suitable target for Belladonna. If attacking at the right time, the demonic female could actually force Sasha into a miscarriage if forcing her into a situation where Sasha had to morph in a extreme way, something potentially harmful for the pups.

"Hey, don't worry, Sasha; let us handle Belladonna. You just concentrate in keeping yourself healthy, and think about our puppies, okay?" Charlie comforted her. Even if he hadn't always been the most sympathetic guy around, Charlie was no fool, and knew this situation was particularly difficult for his wife. "We just need a quick nap, a few doggy snacks, a little rubbing in our bellies, and we'll be ready to continue with the training."

"And the same goes for you, Annabelle... minus the puppies' part, of course." Itchy addressed the Heavenly canine. "You should take a break as well. Maybe you can ask some other angel to cover up for you, at least for a while."

"I agree with Itchy, Annabelle. Even you can use a few hours of relaxation once in a while... and if 'I' am the one suggesting it, you know we all mean it very seriously." Lance added, the usually proud and stoic canine showing visible concern for Annabelle's health. Due to him knowing her on a more personal level than almost anyone else, Lance was more aware of the stress she was experiencing, both the physical and the mental ones.

"Maybe you are right, Lance... but when it comes to Belladonna, I can't help but taking this as a very personal issue. Not just because she's targeting my protegees, but also because, after all, she's my family... and I'm the one who can handle her the best, at least most of the time."

"Your family reunions must be quite the event, Annabelle." Charlie groaned. "Let me guess; every Christmas, you give her a home-made sweater, and she gives you a nuclear bomb with 3 seconds left in the counter."

"Not every Christmas... before the invention of the nuclear bomb, she used dynamite; and before that, a box with a plague." Annabelle sighed and shook her head. As it usually happened when she was talking about incidents involving Belladonna, it was hard to tell if she was joking or telling the truth.

At that moment, Annabelle's pupils turned entirely white, and started glowing while her whole body got a faint aura for a moment, surprising everyone.

"Belladonna..."

"Your version of the Spider Sense or what?" Charlie asked Annabelle when he finally recovered from the surprise.

"Yes, and it's tingling. I used a spell to connect my eyes with every single mirror and puddle in the city, so I can see if Belladonna or her minions arrive, and now I've detected the Metal Wolves. They're the other side of town, attacking a neighborhood."

"A fully visible attack at a street where all humans can see them?" Itchy gasped. "No way... Belladonna never attacks this openly, at least not here on Earth."

"Yes, but she had never been after a Messiah before. And remember, when the first one was born, a Roman governor didn't hesitate to kill all the newborn male babies trying to find the right one." Annabelle groaned. "You must go there, quickly!"

"Not all of us. Lance, you stay." Charlie stood up and stopped Lance when he was about to do the same.

"Staying? Charlie, you'll need..."

"Someone staying here to protect Sasha." Charlie interrupted the Doberman. "Itchy said it; Belladonna is too subtle to make an open attack, especially one this big, unless she has a really evil, sneaky plan."

"I agree with you." Annabelle nodded. "Belladonna is evil, and can be quite ruthless, but she's no fool, and she knows how we think. This is, very probably, a diversion, to leave Sasha unprotected."

Sasha frowned at this; she hated the idea of people being hurt just to get at her, and the whole thing being a very evil scheme to eliminate her puppies.

Lance nodded, agreeing with Annabelle and Charlie's orders, and then the 3 remaining active angels dashed to the attacked neighborhood, Charlie using his wind powers to increase his flying speed to the max (which was already faster than usual, thanks to him using the swallow form again) while Bess helped Itchy by carrying him, and turning both of them intangible and invisible so they could just phase through obstacles, like buildings and trees, instead of avoiding them, a trick that made them win a few precious seconds.

Manfred, who wasn't that far from Charlie and Sasha's place, used his own control over rain and smoke, which granted him an enhanced sensibility to changes in air currents, to feel when Charlie used his elemental power. By tracking this supernatural wind to its origin, Manfred had no problems finding the right building.

"Mistress, I'm about to attack." The Boxer used his mental link to communicate with Belladonna.

"_Good. If I know my Do-Gooder-Cousin, and I know her better than I like to admit, she'll be there guarding Sasha, probably with one of her protegees as well. Try to kill them all, but if_ _things get too hard for you, then just try to gain time. I sense Annabelle has a very powerful protection spell working here, and I can't get through it unless I get enough assistance... and it will take me a few minutes to convince the other demons to help me with this."_

"Don't worry, Mistress; I'll keep them busy long enough. With some luck and a bit of skill, maybe I'll be able to eliminate someone." Manfred grinned evilly before dashing at the building, knowing that Annabelle would probably detect him immediately, but he didn't care as long as it kept the angels distracted and busy until Belladonna arrived.

Back in Hell,. Belladonna stopped watching over her favorite protegee and his own minions, and addressed the several hundred demons around her. They all hated each other so much that it was highly unusual for them to be all together at once without riots, mayhem, insults and general violence to erupt, but even they could sense when collaboration was a necessity.

"Okay, Brimstone Breaths, you heard me already, and I hate to repeat myself." Belladonna's voice was deeper and more dangerous sounding than usual, a tone she only reserved when talking to several demons at once, especially when some of them were, at least, as powerful as herself. "If you don't help me open an Infernal Doggy Door in that house, we'll have a new Messiah making miracles, inspiring faith, and generally kicking our collective butts and tails. So, you better hurry up, and help me with this. NOW!"

Many demons (the ones with a rank as high or higher than Belladonna's) looked at her with disdain, while the weaker ones tried to avoid eye contact with the hellish canine, but eventually all of them nodded, and soon Belladonna's body got charged with energy coming from each and every devil in Hell, the evil female cackling as the new power filled every cell of her demonic body.

Back on Earth, Manfred's robotic minions were doing short work on everything they could get their jaws and paws on; cars, fences, trees, walls... they were destroying everything. Most people were running away in fear, and the very few brave or crazy enough to fight back were getting badly wounded by the powerful beasts. When an elder man took out a shotgun and attacked the trio with it, the bullets barely produced minor dents that were self-repaired almost immediately, and the man had to get carried away by his family when one of the wolves almost ripped off his left leg.

Things didn't get better when the cops arrived. The silver canine attacked the cars directly, ripping the metal apart, while the red and yellow ones started shooting their arsenal at the vehicles, wounding the officers when the cars got destroyed. It was almost a miracle that nobody had died yet.. and the robo-monsters were more than eager to change that.

One of the cops, not as injured as the others, managed to crawl out of the remains of his patrol car, finding himself face to face with the yellow wolf. The man shot the creature almost at point-blank, but the wolf barely felt the impacts, each bullet only annoying him a bit and making him even more eager to attack the officer; when he finally ran out of ammo, the cop got pinned to the ground, with the wolf standing over him, with a paw on his chest, and opening his jaws to deliver the fatal bite.

**CRASH!**

The cop didn't know what was more surprising; the robot's head exploding right before it could bite him, or realizing what had caused the explosion was a falcon that impacted full speed against the creature's jaws. Then, the cop decided the falcon was the main surprise, as it was entirely made of iron yet was moving like a normal, flesh and bone bird.

"Yes, yes, I'm a bird. Go help your friends and leave, now!"

"I might be going crazy... but okay." The man replied to the bird, still not believing what had happened, and then left in a hurry to assist his companions, not noticing the iron falcon was now morphing into a normal bird, and then into a German Shepherd. Charlie had spotted the robot when it was about to kill the man, and then morphed from swallow to peregrine falcon, the fastest bird on Earth when performing a diving attack; using his Wind Power to increase the speed even more, and his Metal Power to get a steel cover, the impact was the equivalent of a bazooka attack minus the explosion yet with all the force.

The other wolves noticed their partner getting destroyed, and then charged at Charlie, forgetting about any other target. Charlie used his newfound elasticity powers to dodge their attacks and then jumped away from them, giving Itchy the chance to strike; the Dachshund and Bess decided to mimic Charlie's diving attack, with some obvious variations. Bess made a perfect diving flight at top speed before making herself intangible yet allowing Itchy to remain solid, and Itchy lost no time to take out a pair of katana blades, landing precisely on top of the red wolf and slicing its head with two clean, fast strikes. Before the silver wolf could avenge his partner, Bess grabbed him by the frontal paws, and made both herself and the paws intangible while the rest of the wolf remained solid, and she pulled them apart; the result was that the wolf lost both paws and fell on his face, almost completely defenseless, until Itchy and Charlie delivered the final blows with a steel mace and iron punch combo, respectively, destroying the wolf's head.

"Well, that was fast." Bess commented, surprised at how fast they had defeated the wolves, especially compared to how hard it was to face them the first time.

"Keep in mind we were the ones doing the ambushing surprise attack now, Bess. Plus, we're stronger and better prepared than before, and we weren't holding back any attack." Itchy reminded her.

"Yes, and besides, we're in a hurry here." Charlie looked around, realizing there were fires extending all over the street due to the damage caused to cars' fuel tanks and to the houses' gas lines. "I'll summon a rain to turn off the flames; you two see if there's any injured person or animal in the houses."

"Water will not be enough to turn off a gasoline fire, Charlie." Itchy reminded him as the Dachshund and his fiancee started moving around.

"True... I'll need some Christmas magic this time. This year's first snow will fall very early." Charlie nodded at Itchy while placing himself on top of a house that wasn't that badly damaged, and started concentrating on producing a light blizzard, not hard enough to hurt people or make rescues more difficult yet still cold enough to extinguish the fire, and with the right size to cover the whole street.

Meanwhile, Manfred was already a few steps away from Sasha's room. Using his smoke form, the Boxer was able to get past most of Annabelle's defenses... yet he still had to face the most powerful one. Manfred had to return to his solid, normal form when a strong wind threatened to dissipate him.

"You're not passing, Manfred." Lance, holding his giant shurikens, stood in front of Manfred, in a defiant pose.

"Mmm... it seems the rumors are right, and that stupid Barkin got himself another lackey." Manfred growled at Lance.

"The only lackey I see here, is a dog who was stupid enough to believe a demon's empty promises." Lance morphed his weapon back to the 'normal' sword and shield combo. "Don't you realize all the pain and suffering she'll bring to the world if she's successful, and the joy and greatness that can come from a living Messiah?"

"Mmm... you bring out an interesting point... Lance, right? But I can't hear you that well... you're very far." Manfred, very subtly, started moving his open paw, until he was pointing it at Lance. "You must be closer... so... GET OVER HERE!"

Manfred's infamous living spear and cable combo got shot out of his paw, right against Lance's face, who barely had time to deflect it with the shield. Manfred, growling, used his other paw to summon a green destructive orb that hit Lance square in the chest, but it made little damage to the Doberman due to his armor.

"Great, your tin can suit protects you a bit... but let's see if it helps you from getting cooked." Manfred growled before using his fire breath against Lance, who dodged the flames before summoning his Kusaramaga to attack the Boxer with a water blast. Manfred dodged the attack as well and pounced on Lance, trying to attack his snout, one of the few parts of Lance's body not completely protected by the armor. Both dogs started struggling and then rolled on the floor, wrestling each other.

Inside her room, Sasha was in an extreme alert state, despite Annabelle being with her for comfort and protection. Both females could hear the battle noises, and Sasha, by instinct, was ready to dash out and help Lance, and only Annabelle's presence, and Sasha remembering her own pregnancy, stopped her from doing just that.

"Lance can handle Manfred, Sasha. You'll see." Annabelle tried to remain stoic and supporting, as usual, but she was suffering almost as much as Sasha. Due to the magical surveillance spells she was currently using, Annabelle could see the whole battle, both Lance's against Manfred, and the one between the rest of the team and the Metal Wolves. Annabelle was a little relieved that Charlie's group made such a good, quick job against the robotic canines, but she still was concerned for the injured persons.

"AAAAWGH!" Annabelle yelled in pain, and soon it was Sasha's turn to comfort her.

"Annabelle, what happened?"

"My... defense shield... someone trespassed it..." Annabelle said, slowly recovering from the mental and magical impact.

"Aw, so now I'm just 'someone', Cousin? That's no way to talk about your family."

Annabelle and Sasha turned to see Belladonna, sitting comfortably on one of the old couches Charlie and Itchy had moved to the room.

"Sasha... go back to your bed." Annabelle stood in front of Sasha, facing Belladonna. Sasha almost argued this but Annabelle's tone was far from her usual orders; this one was a lot more like an imposition than normal, so Sasha didn't argue and returned to her bed, without losing sight of Belladonna at any time.

"Yes, Sasha; you can't have strong emotions in your state. Let my cousin attend the visits." Belladonna smirked at the pregnant female.

"Belladonna, you know you're not welcome here." Annabelle soft growled at Belladonna; this reaction surprised even the demonic female, since, despite their natural (and supernatural) rivalry, Annabelle always tried to keep a cordial, civil attitude towards her cousin. Even when fighting, Annabelle usually had a smile on her face and tried to solve everything with as little violence as possible.

"Annabelle, you are disappointing me; acting this rude after all the troubles I had to organize Sasha's baby shower? Shame on you, Cousin." Belladonna got back to her mocking tone.

"Belladonna, your idea of a baby shower is dropping molten lava on a kid... and now I hate myself for getting that mental image." Annabelle groaned.

"Heh, I'm a bad influence for you, Annabelle. Ah, it feels so good to know you're so good in your job." Belladonna chuckled; this was working better than she expected. Annabelle was so frustrated and, possibly, mental and physically altered by her intrusion, that she didn't notice the subtle spells Belladonna was performing right there, namely teleporting a few objects, one of it appearing under Sasha's bed, and the others, small and barely visible, appearing at Sasha's side.

"Well, Belladonna, if you are so eager to discuss job issues, I'll be more than glad to talk about my work too. Basically, I'm asking you to leave right now, before I get angry enough to forget my manners and reduce myself to your moral level! Or, more precisely, your AMORAL level." Annabelle now was trying to get back to her normal tone and 'business look', yet it was obvious she was ready to physically attack Belladonna if necessary.

"Reducing yourself? Cousin, this shows you don't know the current events; I got a promotion." Belladonna grinned. "And it comes with a great bonus."

"Let me guess; a bigger office and a box with bubonic pest's infested rats." Now Sasha was the one snapping at Belladonna.

"Hahaha... Sasha, that was so good! I have to ask for those things later. But really... the bonus I got was a power bonus." Belladonna was then covered by a dark aura, Annabelle gasping when sensing her power level.

"But... this power... you could only get this kind of power if several demons gave you their powers..."

"Willingly; nice to see you're familiar with my 'company' and our business politics." Belladonna grinned evilly. "And yes, we usually don't share what's ours, but then again, we usually don't have to get rid of a Messiah in formation... and the angel protecting the mother."

Belladonna then shot a dark beam at Annabelle, sending her the other side of the room. Annabelle got visibly stunned, and couldn't defend herself from a second beam that impacted her against the wall behind her.

"Annabelle!" Sasha forgot about everything but her friend's welfare, and jumped out of the bed, knocking down the two little objects at her side. The moment she did it, the whole room started trembling; Belladonna stopped her attack on Annabelle to look back at Sasha.

"Ah, you decided to join the baby shower! And so nice of you to use the game I brought." Belladonna smirked while looking at the floor. Sasha then noticed the two little dices next to the bed.

"Dices... like the ones you used for..." Sasha stopped talking when her bed was literally blasted away, revealing a game board that was glowing and shaking with dark, supernatural energy.

"Yes, Sasha, the Kibbleland game! Now with new sections, dangers and rules; I brought the championship edition. Only the best for you!" Belladonna cackled evilly. "And you know how this works; once you drop the dices, there's no way to stop the game from sucking you!"

Sasha turned her paws into hooks, trying to get a hold on herself by stabbing the floor and walls, but it was useless. The game was now absorbing her with the force of a black hole, and even Sasha's superpowers weren't enough to fight back.

Annabelle, reacting from the attacks, used her own magic to get a hold on Sasha, trying to pull her apart from the game. The archangel then started a teleportation spell, hoping it would be strong enough to get Sasha away from the game's attraction area. Belladonna, at first, didn't do a thing to stop her cousin, since watching her and Sasha's struggle was extremely amusing for the demonic female, but after a few moments Belladonna decided it was better safe than sorry, and used her powers to interfere with Annabelle's spell. The fusion of demonic and celestial magic created a gray aura around Sasha, who yelled in pain at this; Annabelle, not wanting to hurt her friend or the puppies by accident, stopped her own spell and turned at Belladonna to stop her, but it was already too late. After a few more seconds, Sasha got sucked inside the game.

"HAHAHA... SASHA AND THE MESSIAH ARE..." Belladonna's victorious face disappeared when the Kibbleland game started shaking, covered by the same gray aura that covered Sasha a few moments ago, and then the game disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Gone... GONE? THIS WASN'T MY WORK!"

"No... it was yours, combined with mine..." Annabelle gasped, trying to get back her breath. "I was trying to teleport Sasha away... and it seems part of the spell's energy entered the game along with her..."

"And now the game is gone... and since it was a fusion of demonic and heavenly magic..." Belladonna wide opened her eyes in realization. "You don't know where it's gone."

"Neither do you." Annabelle frowned at Belladonna. "At least she's not in your paws."

"Not bad, Cousin; you definitely are tougher than before. But, as you know... our little game is just starting." Belladonna smirked at Annabelle before disappearing in a large, black flame. Annabelle dropped herself to the floor in exhaustion and frustration.

"Annabelle!" Lance opened the room's door and dashed to the archangel's side. "Manfred... we were fighting... and he just disappeared! What..." The Doberman then realized who wasn't present. "Sasha. Belladonna was here, right?"

"Yes. She was. And yes, Sasha is gone; she's not with Belladonna... but nobody knows where she is." Annabelle stood up, her tone more serious than ever. "Let's contact Charles and the others. This is now a race against Hell... and let's pray for Sasha to survive long enough for us to rescue her."


	5. A Stranger in a Strange Land

Chapter 5 - A Stranger in a Strange Land

After what seemed to be hours, but were just a few moments, Sasha opened her eyes and started moving. She had lost conscience shortly after being sucked by the magical vortex and, by instinct, morphed into a ball so her body would absorb the impact if falling too hard, protecting her newborn pups this way. Usually, that would have been enough and she wouldn't resent it at all, but the magical energies' combination and the vortex's force, much powerful than the one that sucked her the first time Belladonna used this trap, left her dizzy and weak for the moment, and therefore couldn't help but fainting after she stopped moving.

"Where... where am I? This place looks... familiar... but..." Sasha looked around, realizing that she was in some sort of jungle, but the sky looked as if it was a painted ceiling, and the trees had a weird scent on them. After walking a few steps, Sasha realized something even weirder and far scarier.

"Who am I?" The dog thougth out loud, and then realized she had absolutely no memory of her life before opening her eyes. She started concentrating, trying to remember anything, but her whole mind was a blank space. It was almost a miracle that she could remember being a dog and not some other animal.

"Hello? HELLO?" Sasha started yelling, hoping somebody could hear her. "Nobody's here? Please, anybody, answer me! I'm lost! I'm a lost dog! And... that's all I know who I am!"

Now completely terrified, Sasha started running around in no particular direction, something actually logic since she had no idea of where she was or where she had to go. This continued for a while until Sasha, panting in exhaustion after running like crazy, had to stop to catch her breath.

"Where am I? Do I have others looking for me? Are there are other dogs around here? Do I have a family?" Sasha, a bit more calm yet still obviously scared, continued asking herself; she kept thinking out loud since hearing her own voice gave her a little comfort, considering the scary possibility that she was the only dog, or sentient being, in the area; the silence was becoming as creepy as the loneliness, and despite not knowing about her own life, Sasha soon realized she was probably used to noisy or talkative companions, since she had problems to stand being quiet for long.

"Great, I'm learning about myself. Maybe if I concentrate and stop panicking, I'll be able to remember more." Sasha paused and smiled. "That actually sounded smart. Maybe I have a working brain after all... hope it starts working the way I want it... and that sounded a lot like an ironic comment. Do I like irony? Do I have a sense of humor? Hope I do, because right now, this isn't funny at all."

Sasha then started looking at herself, hoping this would trigger some memories, or at least, help her remember her own breed.

"Mmm... I have big, falling ears... so, I'm not a Doberman or a Husky... and I have long legs, so I'm no Dachshund or Basset Hound. My muzzle is long... so, no Bulldog or Boxer either. And I'm very furry... so, no Greyhound or Great Dane... but not that furry to give me a lot of heat, so I guess I'm not a British Shepherd, and since I'm not bulky, I'm surely not a Mastiff or Saint Bernard. Maybe I'm a German Shepherd... no, the ears don't fit..." Sasha then paused and thought for a moment. "German Shepherd... why that one sounds important? Maybe I'm half German Shepherd... that would make me a mixed breed... or I know a German Shepherd from somewhere. Come on, come on, Brain, you could remember several dog breeds right now, so you should be able to remember that one!"

After concentrating for a few minutes, Sasha groaned, upset with herself, as this German Shepherd-related data missed her memory.

"Great, this breed is now giving me a headache. But... funny enough, I actually think it's normal for me to feel like this... Maybe I'm not a German Shepherd but I know one, and he or she drives me crazy, or at least it's someone close to me." Sasha actually felt some relief from this information; at least, it proved she wasn't alone in the world, and she had family and/or friends who would probably be looking for her at this same moment.

Sasha was so focused on her self-discovery issues, that she didn't notice a large, legless creature approaching her from behind.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Charlie was almost ready to have a heart attack while breaking everyone's ear drums on the process.

"STUPID, STUPID, STUPID! I'M A COMPLETE IDIOT!" Charlie continued ranting against himself while pacing back and forth, his friends trying to calm him down without any success at the moment. "I SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE TO PROTECT SASHA! LANCE COULD HAVE COVERED FOR ME WITH THE WOLVES! WHAT KIND OF HUSBAND AM I?"

"Charlie, quit it, now!" Itchy finally had enough and grabbed Charlie by both ears, forcing him to stop and looked at the Dachshund's eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong. You made the right decisions in an emergency situation, and nobody could have predicted what happened, so stop blaming yourself before you go insane! Sasha needs a sane husband and not-deaf-friends to help her right now."

As usual, Itchy was the best to get Charlie back to his senses, at least when Sasha wasn't around (and even in those cases, Itchy was still a very close second best option); the Elemental Canine calmed down and took some deep breaths, while Lance and Bess looked back at Annabelle, who certainly looked distressed enough to start a rant of her own and the only reasons she didn't was due to her naturally calm and logical nature, and the fact Charlie started ranting before she had the chance.

"I'm afraid we... no... 'I' underestimated Belladonna. She didn't just come with a good, elaborate set-up, but also powered herself up so I couldn't stop her this time." Annabelle sighed. "Normally, we're evenly matched, so much, actually, that we rarely get into a real fight because we both know it would be a potential mutual disaster... but this time she was so strong I barely could stay awake after she attacked me, and I had to use all my power just to try rescuing Sasha from the Kibbleland game."

"How is this 'Kibbleland' thing dangerous? I never played it, but I heard it's just a board game." Lance asked, puzzled.

"Did you ever see the old 'Twilight Zone' show?" Itchy turned at Lance, pausing until the Doberman nodded. "Well, in that show, even the most innocent, harmless things could have terrible, demonic powers; a ventriloquist dummy, a talking doll, a carnival game or mask... You can only imagine what real demonic powers can do when applied to an object."

"Itchy is right. Demons had been cursing all sorts of common use objects and toys since they were invented. In the hands or paws of a very experienced demon, even a coin can be as lethal as a bazooka." Annabelle added.

"But what does this have to do with the Kibbleland game?" Asked Lance, still confused.

"Demons have a weakness for enchanting games and toys, Lance, because most of their victims are innocent players, in other words, a demon's favorite victim. Belladonna's Kibbleland trap is very similar to another game created by a demon many centuries ago, Jumanji, but that one was set up to capture humans. In both cases, the victim can either get sucked inside the game, and stay trapped in an alternative dimension, consisting on the game's settings made real, or, in more extreme cases, the game's features manifest in the real world. And don't think they manifest as plastic toys or something like that; if the game says 'You fell in a lion den', you know you'll have to face a real lion."

"And the only way to break the spell is if you win the game, or if you can accomplish a specific task required by the game." Charlie explained Lance. "This happened to Itchy, Sasha and myself some time ago. Belladonna knew I had a thing for competitive gaming, gambling and getting quick profits, so she gave that game to Carface and Killer, and made them invite us to play a 'friendly' game... and being myself, I couldn't resist the chance to beating up those two, and of course, Sasha and Itchy got involved, as it happened with most of the crazy schemes I used to come up with."

Charlie groaned and looked down, pausing the story; these times, when remembering past mistakes, were always hard for him since he always felt terrible when admitting all the occasions he got Itchy and/or Sasha into trouble. Itchy realized this so he continued telling the story to Lance.

"Anyway, Sasha started the game, and the moment she threw the dices, the game sucked her in, pretty much like it happened today. With Sasha trapped inside, Belladonna finally revealed being behind the whole thing... of course, a magical game that sucks dogs inside itself was a very obvious hint of her involvement... and Charlie and I knew we now had no choice but entering the game and beat it from the inside in order to rescue Sasha. It wasn't easy because of all the traps and obstacles..."

"And because I was stupid enough to focus more on winning the game than in protecting my friends." Charlie groaned, feeling even worse than before. "Seriously, I was so... absorbed by the game, and I don't mean just literally, but the whole 'win at any cost' mentality, that I was trying to get to the finish line before Sasha and Itchy even if we were supposed to be competing as a team in order to escape."

"And things got even harder when Belladonna sent Carface and Killer to Kibbleland, so, besides the game's obstacles, we also had those two giving us a difficult time. Luckily, in the end, Charlie helped Sasha and I to escape, even if he was almost surely staying trapped inside." Itchy pointed out, smiling a bit and trying to light the mood a bit; Charlie was already a mess with Sasha's disappearance, and getting depressed over previous problems wasn't helping either.

"That was... a very brave, noble action, Charlie." Lance said to the German Shepherd, in a very honest and, even, admiration tone.

"Thanks... luckily, the game thought the same, so I could get out of it even if I couldn't reach the finish line." Charlie sighed, getting a slight smile at this triumph of his; besides beating up the game, this helped him beat up his own addiction to gambling and lose a lot of his old selfish ways.

"Yes. One good side about evil spells, and that's possibly the only good side of them, is that even the one who made the spell can't go against the magic's specifications, and there's usually a 'loophole' you can exploit in order to get victorious. In order to make the Kibbleland game hard enough so even I couldn't get Charlie and company out of it by force, Belladonna had to allow an 'alternative exit door', a very hard one to exploit, of course, since it involved making a huge, unselfish sacrifice, but one that she couldn't remove on risk of making a defective spell that I could break with relative ease." Annabelle finished the explanation; Lance nodded in understanding, realizing the kind of magic they were facing at the moment. "Unfortunately, now that Belladonna has stronger magic at her disposition, she could have changed the rules and added more dangers to the game. Luckily, even with her pregnancy, Sasha still has her powers, so she's more capable of defending herself than the first time the game absorbed her. Still, we have to locate the game and find the way to get her out."

"Don't need to Annabelle; I still have my copy of Kibbleland from that fiasco." Charlie replied while he started looking among his old stuff.

"Good. Hopefully, I can create a magical bond between the two games, so we can use your copy as a portal to the lost one, even if the new version has new 'lands' and set-ups." Annabelle nodded at Charlie.

"How about we use the dices and let the game to suck us inside, as it happened before?" Bess suggested while holding a dice that was left after the game got teleported away. "That way, we'd be attracted to the missing game despite the distance or location, right?"

"That would work, Bess, if we had both dices; otherwise, your 'turn' is incomplete and the magic will not start your 'game'. And, apparently, when the game started attracting Sasha, it also attracted some random, small objects from the room, as a giant vacuum cleaner would do, including one of the dices. And since Sasha would need both dices to play a turn as well, she can't 'advance' in her own game in order to escape faster, so she'll need to survive and advance the old fashioned way, beating up the obstacles as they present themselves." Annabelle explained to Bess.

"I have the dices from the old game." Charlie said while holding the 2 little objects.

"That will help us so you can enter the 'old game', Charlie, but I don't think they'll be useful with the new one. Otherwise, any pair of dices would be capable of starting a game, and that would be extremely dangerous; even the demons wouldn't allow that because the game would get, let's say, overpopulated, and enough victims working together would be able to escape more easily, or, at least, defeat the game's dangers and made it a harmless space." Annabelle said while grabbing the dices and starting to chant a spell on them.

Back at Kibbleland, Sasha started sniffing around, forgetting, by the moment, about what kind of dog she was, and focusing instead on finding her way back home. When doing this, she finally noticed the whole area actually smelled...

"Delicious." Sasha thought out loud. "This whole place smells like a large buffet... and why I suddenly have a craving for sausages?"

Sasha heard a hissing sound and turned to see a huge line of sausages... that was looking back at her; and it had furious, predatory eyes, and large fangs.

"And it seems the sausages here have a craving for me!" Sasha yelped and barely dodged a bite from the Sausage Snake, one of the many monsters from the game. It was a funny, crazy idea for puppies playing it, but not that much when facing a real one attempting to eat you.

Sasha jumped aside to dodge another bite, and then realized several other similar creatures were surrounding her. The Afghan then jumped over the first Snake, and made a dash away from the monsters. Without her realizing it, Sasha's legs were now extending, until they were as large and strong as a horse's, allowing her to leave the snakes far behind her plus avoiding any obstacles on her way; Sasha, of course, was so scared at the moment that she was acting mostly out of instinct, so didn't realize she was using her Elasticity Powers.

"Whoa... I'm fast..." Sasha said to herself when noticing her speed yet still without knowing how long were her legs at the moment. "Maybe I'm a Greyhound... or at least a half'Greyhound... or... what's that breed that looks like a Greyhound but furrier... French Poodle? No, it's not that one... Foxhound? No, not furry enough... Afghan? Possibly... but their fur isn't reddish... I guess... Mmm... Irish Setter? Yes, that's the breed!."

Sasha, satisfied with this new self-knowledge, and happy she no longer could see the snakes chasing after her, stopped running, and her legs returned to their natural size, again, without her noticing this. Sasha then noticed that the ground under her paws wasn't made of soil, but kibble.

"Weird... well, at least I'll not starve while I'm lost here." Sasha decided to eat at the spot... literally. Once she had eaten enough kibble to satisfy her appetite, she started looking for some water since, as any dog, she got thirsty after eating a dry food meal.

After searching around for a while, Sasha found a little pond, and she could get a drink, not noticing the kibble under her paws was getting softer and mud-like.

"Mmm... good thing I found this... I had so much kibble I really needed a drink." Sasha paused her drinking to think a bit. "Wonder why I felt so hungry all of a sudden; I wasn't even thinking about food until after those sausages attacked me, and I can't believe I said it out loud. Maybe I got a craving from sniffing them... and that gave me an appetite. Still... I'm sure I wouldn't eat that much on a regular basis, or I'd be as fat as pig."

Sasha then gave her belly a good look, realizing she looked a bit pudgy. At the moment, she thought it was because of how much kibble she just ate, but then remembered she already looked like this before eating; she hadn't paid it enough attention until now since, before this little lunch and water break, she had been too busy thinking about her identity and whereabouts.

"Guess I really have an appetite. Maybe I'm a glutton... but somehow, I don't think that's normal in me." Sasha continued thinking, and then, all of a sudden, she realized her paws had started sinking in the kibble ground. The Setter then realized that, just like normal kibble, this one could get softened by water, and since she was standing on the kibble around the pond, this ground wasn't as firm as the rest, but almost mud-like, and it was now working as quick sand.

Sasha panicked at this, and tried to run back to dry land/kibble, but her attempts only made her sink even faster; now her paws and legs were entirely immersed in wet kibble, and it was just a matter of seconds before the same happened to the rest of her body. Even if she had known about her powers, this would be a hard escape for Sasha, with the kibble encasing her limbs and making moves difficult, so, without her knowing about her own abilities, this was a death trap.

"Okay... remember... remember... what to do in a situation like this... oh, yeah." Sasha took a deep breath before yelling in fear. **"SOMEBODY HELP ME! HELP!"**

Sasha continued trying to break free while yelling, but even in her panicked state, the Setter knew there were little chances to get rescued.

"Oh, perfect... I'm gonna die and I don't even know my name to call myself a moron for falling in this death trap..." Sasha gulped and took a few deep breaths, knowing her head would soon end submerged in wet kibble.

"**HOWWWWWL!"**

Sasha gasped when hearing this howling; it seemed that now her options were choking to death in food or being eaten by some wild beast.

"Unless the beast gets trapped in here with me... great, what a nice companion in my last moments." Sasha groaned yet it was very obvious she was quite scared.

Then, a large, canine humanoid creature jumped out of the bushes; Sasha immediately realized it was a male being, and she instantly remembered the technical name of the creature... a werewolf. It was huge, easily as big as a medium-sized bear, with large, sharp teeth and claws; his fur was a light, almost pale tone of brown, with some dark on his back and ears. However, unlike most dogs (or anyone with a little self preservation instinct), she didn't feel overly scared; Sasha didn't know if he would attack her, or if he was friendly. After all, just some time earlier that day, she was almost eaten by stuff, she remembered, was normally something she would be eating.

"Uh... eh... Mister Werewolf... Sir... can you... assist me... or at least, restrain yourself from eating me?" Sasha tried to stay as calm as usual; even without her memories, Sasha's instincts told her that being afraid in front of a predator would only make her appeal more vulnerable.

The werewolf looked at her for a moment, and then started advancing towards the trapped dog; then, the creature realized why she was in trouble, when one of his paws sunk slightly on the wet kibble. The werewolf retired immediately, and then started looking around; when spotting a large log on the ground, the werewolf lifted it, and then, with more care anyone would expect from such a fierce-looking beast, placed the log next to Sasha; besides giving her a way to escape, the werewolf was doing it in a way he wouldn't get trapped himself.

"Super strong, has a brain, and he knows compassion... okay, I'm officially impressed." Sasha, smiling for the first time in what seemed to be ages, used all her strength to release one of her paws and grab the log; then, now she had a support point, Sasha could release her other front paw and hug the log. The werewolf, noticing she was holding herself well enough, started pulling the log, taking her whole body out of the wet kibble, and a few moments later, she was completely out of danger.

"Thanks, Tall, Furry and Fearsome. Heh, not that fearsome, actually." Sasha smiled at the werewolf. The large beast nodded at her and then, surprising her, started morphing into a smaller creature; his muscles reduced to a more normal size, and his features changed to an average German Shepherd's, still conserving the fur color.

"I think I look better like this." The male dog smiled at the female. Sasha gasped a bit at this but soon realized her savior looked kinda attractive; of course, she didn't remember at the time, but being in love with Charlie, it was obvious she considered German Shepherds very good looking, and that knowledge was practically an instinct by now, so it didn't disappear along with her memory.

"V-very good trick... heh, do you perform in parties?" Sasha used a little humor, again, surprising herself at how easy she could use jokes and sarcasm in a casual conversation; she was just glad this time she actually had someone to talk with instead of just herself.

"Yes, I do, if there's a birthday boy or girl among the audience." The German Shepherd chuckled and then extended his paw at her. "My name is Donovan, but you can call me Don; everyone does it and you don't wanna go against the status quo, right?"

"Great, a werewolf who also tells jokes." Sasha shook his paw, smiling back. "Thanks for rescuing me... and excuse me for asking, but aren't werewolves supposed to be humans who turn into wolves? Or you're actually a man who can change himself into dog and then into a werewolf?"

"Well... I'm more like, a dog who can turn himself into a bestial shape, but that's a mouthful, so you can call me a werewolf." Don grinned at her. "And what's your name? I am already sharing private information with you, and I don't even know who you are."

"About that... funny thing... well, not that funny... I have no idea of who I am. Last thing I remember before finding myself here is that... some sort of storm caught me... but whatever happened before that, I'm a complete blank." Sasha sighed.

"Amnesia... Belladonna is getting creative with her punishments." Don frowned slightly, and Sasha couldn't help but cringe a bit when hearing that name. Somehow, she suspected 'Belladonna' wasn't exactly a kind person, or dog.

"Who's this 'Belladonna' you talk about?"

"Oh, right, you have amnesia... well, I'll explain everything to you once we get back to my place. Trust me, this place isn't safe; no place is safe in this land, of course, but I know the not-so-dangerous spots where you can actually relax a bit." Don motioned Sasha to follow him.

"Thanks... and yes, I might have no memories right now, but I know sausages aren't supposed to eat dogs." Sasha followed him while looking around, fearing the Sausage Snakes or some other monster would appear at any moment.

"Heh, I actually do a 'normal' thing with them. The only reason I come here, away from some friends I live with, is because my werewolf side needs to get... dangerous, once in a while, and hunt for my own food. In this land, you can get easy food most of the time since almost all the ground here is made of kibble, but if you have strong predatory instincts, like myself, you need to hunt, kill and devour prey once in a while, so I morph into my werewolf self and come here to have a Sausage Snakes' feast. Stay close to me and they'll stay away from you." Don said to Sasha, greatly comforting her.

"Good to know; I found myself a perfect bodyguard, and his job and his payment are the same thing." Sasha chuckled, making Don to get a fond smile as well.

"You have a cute laugh, you know... Mmm... I need a way to call you, so... How about, Chuckles?" Don grinned.

"How about you try harder?" Sasha arched an eyebrow at him.

"I deserved that; okay, fine, how about... Irish? You're an Irish Setter, so it's fitting."

"Then, it's a good thing you know your own name, or I'd be calling you Shep." Sasha rolled her eyes yet continued smiling. "Okay, while I finally get this brain of mine to remember who I am, guess Irish is a good option."

Don nodded at her while they continued walking out of the jungle part of Kibbleland. The German Shepherd smiled in delight; this wasn't the first time he went out for food and returned home with a guest; after all, he had met many of his current friends that way; but somehow, he felt this girl was special somehow. He also made a mental note about asking her if she was pregnant, since her belly looked a bit bigger than usual and he knew it wasn't from body fat, yet, considering she had been partially submerged in wet kibble, it was possible that extra volume actually came from moisture on her fur.


	6. Welcome to the Kibbleland Circus

Chapter 6 - Welcome to the Kibbleland Circus

After a while, Sasha noticed the jungle's trees started becoming smaller both in size and in numbers, and soon she and Donovan were walking in a mostly desert-like area. Only the fact that the ground was still made of kibble reminded Sasha they were still in this 'Kibbleland' world. She had wanted to ask more about it, but while at the jungle, Sasha was more interested on watching around for possible dangers; despite having Donovan as both a guide and a bodyguard, she was still wary about any place where sausages could eat dogs.

"We'll be there in a few minutes. There are a few other dangerous places around here, so we have to walk around them; it means some extra walking time, but also less possibilities of getting hurt." Donovan explained to Sasha, the female nodding at him while he started climbing a rocky formation; Sasha followed with little problem, surprising herself at how easy this way for her.

"_I probably work out a lot... or maybe I have some job where I do indoors activities." _Sasha thought while following her new friend. _"Mmm... Irish Setters are Hunting Dogs... maybe I was chasing after some prey when this 'Belladonna' trapped me here... then again, what kind of animal I was chasing to deserve losing my memories and getting stuck in this place? Great, the more I learn about myself, the more new doubts I get."_

It took them a while to get past the rocks, some of them as huge as a small hill. Donovan explained her that it was easy to fall and get hurt if not being careful here, but still, it was much better than the alternative path, walking next or around the rocks instead of climbing them, due to a very high risk of avalanche, or getting attacked by monsters living at this area.

When still on top of the rocks, Sasha spotted a large, colorful tent at a distance, with several small carts around it. It seemed like some sort of carnival or circus.

"That's my place. Nice, isn't it?" Donovan smiled at Sasha. "Wait till you meet the others. It had been a while since we got new neighbors."

"How many 'neighbors' do you have?" Sasha asked him as they finally started climbing down the rocks.

"More than we would like... not that we dislike having company, but getting new neighbors usually mean that Belladonna scored some new victories." Donovan sighed. "Almost all our neighbors live around this area, but we stay in small groups, for protection; a large group of us, staying for long in the same place, would become a magnet for Kibbleland's predators, and of course nobody wants to be alone here, so our best option is to live in small packs and have some distance between us, not that far that we lose contact but not that close either so we can stay under the predators' radar."

After leaving the rocky area, they still had to walk for a few minutes before finally arriving at the huge tent. Sasha could feel the smell of several animals inside, and, thankfully, due to her sensory memory, that worked a lot better than her rational one, she could recognize all the species, plus realizing this place had more than just kibble for eating; they had popcorn, fries, and even sausages prepared in several ways (very probably, the remains of the Sausage Snakes Donovan killed). All this made Sasha to start salivating, surprising herself, again, at how big was her appetite.

The moment they entered the tent, Sasha couldn't decide where to look at, because everyone was busy in there, and in very colorful ways. The first creature she saw was a hyena girl, dressed as a clown (make up included) practicing falling and tripping with her own paws, producing a very comical effect; right next to her, there were other 2 females, a fox and a coyote, helping adjusting each other's leotards; looking up, there was a high wire, and walking on it, was a large, black muscular wolf, balancing a ball on his nose; Sasha then widened her eyes when looking at a male fox stretching and making warming up exercises before rolling over himself and transforming into a furry ball; behind him, a dingo was practicing throwing a boomerang at several targets, hitting them all; finally, another coyote, a male, was at the background, apparently checking out some equipment.

"Wow... they're all..." Sasha got interrupted by Donovan.

"Yes, wild animals; you see, that's why we all banded together. Even if all of us, here in Kibbleland, are Belladonna's victims, most are normal dogs, so they're wary of wild creatures, including other canines... or canine-likes, like our clown." Don chuckled a bit. "Anyway, we all have to live in packs, as I already told you, and most packs wouldn't accept any of them, or a werewolf like me, so we formed a nice group of misfits here."

"Actually, I was about to say 'they're all circus performers', but thanks for the explanation." Sasha grinned at Don, who couldn't resist laughing loudly at this.

"Hey, no laughing here unless I'm the one causing it." The hyena approached the duo and honked her clown nose in front of Sasha. "Unless you are a fellow clown; in which case, I must say you're having a good start."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Sasha rolled her eyes yet chuckled a bit; again, some silly humor seemed to affect her in a very positive way, despite Sasha herself admitting it was very childish. By this point, the rest of the performers finally noticed Donovan and his new guest, so stopped practicing and went to receive them.

"Ah, a new artist, I can see." The male coyote bowed in front of Sasha, in a very dramatic way. "The newest guest a great addition, can be."

"Heh, you make a big deal of any female you meet, Stripe." Donovan chuckled before looking back at Sasha. "He's our ringmaster, so he has a very big mouth..."

"And I'm also in charge of keeping this dream factory working and allowing the artists to do their magic, as it's my humble yet vital role." Stripe continued, obviously proud of his work despite admitting it wasn't the flashiest, most impressive one.

"Ah, don't take him seriously... nobody does; heh, not even I do, and I don't even take myself seriously." The hyena petted Stripe's head in a childish, playful way; of course, since hyenas tend to be bigger than most canines, the coyote had to make an effort to avoid falling on his own muzzle.

"When it comes to your own strength, Haley, you should actually take yourself seriously." Stripe frowned a bit yet returned to his smooth, dramatic talking almost instantly. "I feel obliged to introduce the rest of our flamboyant group, unless our good lycanthropic member already did it for you."

"If 'lycanthropic' means something around the 'werewolf' lines, then no, Donovan hadn't said anyone's name but yours, Mister Stripe." Sasha smiled at the coyote.

"Ah, but you must only call me 'Stripe'..." The coyote got interrupted by Haley almost instantly.

"And you must only call me for lunch, especially if you brought dessert." The clown ended the joke by honking her nose again.

"Ehem... if you allow me to continue... yes, as you already heard, I'm Stripe, the ringmaster and, more importantly, the chief maintenance officer and technical support..."

"In other words, the janitor." Haley grinned at Sasha, who was now openly laughing at these two's antics.

"Okay, that's enough; Haley, can you please cut your nonsense for a minute?" The coyote finally snapped at the hyena. "This isn't part of the act... In fact, even when we're in the middle of the show, it's never part of the act."

"Aw, you are grumpy now. And the puppies keep asking why we fight all the time." Haley pouted at Stripe, Sasha and the others laughing loudly at this.

"Heh, they do this all the time. Haley always interrupts Stripe when he's doing his job at the show... and the crowd just cracks laughing." Donovan paused his laughter to explain Sasha.

"And someday, I'm gonna crack too." Stripe sighed and then placed a paw on Haley's muzzle. "And no, Haley, I'm not on drugs, so no 'crack' jokes today, please."

The hyena shrugged and, despite the coyote holding her muzzle, she still smiled happily at him. Stripe rolled his eyes and turned back at Sasha.

"And, as you could hear, this harlequin character is none other than our resident clown, Haley, the laughing hyena, and my personal source of headaches and ulcers." Stripe frowned at the hyena one last time before nodding at the female fox and coyote next to him.

"These lovely ladies are our big top muses, those who inspire dreams of greatness and break the hearts of every male in the audience." Stripe, again in his smooth talking mood, made a ceremonious, exaggerated bow. "Meet lovable Jessie and dear Jasmine, our resident acrobats, dancers, and visual attractive."

"If you keep talking like that, Stripe, one day we might actually believe you." The fox chuckled a bit before looking at Sasha. "Jessie Fox, at your service."

"And Jasmine, at... my own service." The coyote girl grinned before shaking Sasha's paw. "Ah, just kidding here."

"Mmm... silly jokes out of nowhere. Ah, my work with her is done." Haley chuckled and, again, honked her clown nose.

"If Miss Antipathy here allows me to continue..." Stripe made another ceremonious bow. "Let me introduce you to the Master of Stretching: the Guru of Yoga: the Self Bending Sage... Jacob Fox."

"Glad to meet you, Miss." The male fox, in a good natured and apparently effortless way, rolled himself into a ball and rolled in front of Sasha before extending his right paw (his body still in ball shape) to greet her.

"Wow... very impressive. It doesn't hurt you?" Sasha asked while shaking Jacob's paw. She was definitely interested in this ability of his; somehow, it seemed to trigger some memories of her, but they were still foggy and not precise enough to make a connection.

"Not at all. I'm very flexible... and a certain evil female that we all know and would rather forget forever enhanced my natural abilities before giving me a one-way ticket here." Jacob, back to a normal position, shrugged at the Setter.

"I'd like to give her a one way ticket too, but I'll rather restrain myself from mentioning where to, since there are ladies present." The dingo said while toying with his frisbee, showing a not so amused expression.

"The gentlemutt here, expressing himself in an interesting and, we must admit, accurate way, that expresses our collective feelings for our supernatural common foe, is Darek Dingo." Stripe nodded at Sasha while formally introducing the next member of the circus group. Sasha nodded at the dingo in a nice, polite way he replied similarly; even if amnesiac at the time, Sasha still could recognize when someone was a good person (or animal) yet having some bitter feelings about someone, so decided to not ask about this common foe, that she guessed was the Belladonna that Donovan had mentioned previously.

"And last but not least, our high wire star; the Wonderful Wolf; the Colossal Canine... Eddie." Stripe made the final introduction while looking at the large black wolf. It was ironic that he had a more or less common, unimpressive name yet he was, definitely, among the most physically imposing members of this pack.

"As everyone else had said, glad to have a new resident, especially a very nice looking one." Eddie's voice was serene yet very firm one, the one you could expect from a 'gentle giant' type. Sasha immediately realized he wasn't the flirty type and only made the 'nice looking' comment in a polite, gentle manner.

"Glad to meet you all. It's great to find a gentle, well meaning pack in a strange land; this place would be scary enough without having hostile residents." Sasha smiled at Eddie before talking to the whole group.

"Ah, we have no hostile residents here. I ate the last one a month ago." Haley grinned at Sasha, who arched an eyebrow at the hyena. "Hah, I'm kidding... Donnie is the one who eats them."

"Only when they're clean enough, Haley." Donovan chuckled and he and the hyena high-fived each other, in an obvious display of good natured joking... at least, Sasha hoped they were joking; after all, Donovan was a werewolf, and Haley, clown and all, was still a hyena, an animal famous for eating almost any creature it can catch.

"So, now that you already met the gang, can we hear your name?" Jessie asked the newcomer.

"I don't know who I am." Sasha said in a confused tone.

Meanwhile, back with Annabelle and her group, the archangel was preparing the last details for the spell that would allow them to get into the game; the main part was setting a defensive shield strong enough to defend the game itself while everyone was inside. No matter if they were able to locate Sasha or not, the whole plan would fail if Belladonna's forces located the game and destroyed or secured it; Annabelle's protection would activate the moment Charlie and company entered the game, but, since the game's own magic and rules limited Annabelle's interventions, she couldn't do much more to assist her guardian angels. However, Annabelle's work got interrupted when she sensed something extremely unusual that made the archangel to get white, bright eyes.

"Annabelle, what's going on? There's a disturbance in The Force?" Despite how worried he was, Charlie couldn't resist making a joking comment.

"As many of your quotes and jokes, Charlie, this one is actually accurate enough. I feel a magical disturbance... a... portal... a magical one... One that goes beyond time and space..."

"Belladonna again?" Lance asked while he and the others got ready for a possible fight.

"That's the most curious part... it's my own energy, but I'm not doing a thing... unless... this portal is the work of my future self." Annabelle explained. "This is a time travel portal, and since I don't remember using one to travel to this particular date, it's not coming from the past."

"So, you, and I mean... the 'you' from the future is sending us some help to save Sasha?" Itchy guessed.

"Admit it, Annabelle; you saw the Terminator movies!" Charlie grinned at the archangel, the elemental hero glad that this weird situation provided both possible assistance and a little chance for comedic relief, something he really needed at the time.

Before Annabelle could confirm that, exactly, she had seen the movies, a huge, white light portal appeared in the middle of the room. A few seconds later, several figures appeared on the portal, all of them obviously canine ones but not easy to identify due to the light blinding everyone at the room except for Annabelle, who, obviously, was more than used to this type of light... and she was gasping at the scene.

"Come with me if you want to live." A male voice was heard from the portal.

"What the..." Itchy started talking but then the voice started laughing.

"Heh, sorry; my dad asked me to use that joke when arriving." The light cleared out and the speaker was finally perfectly visible, as well as his companions.

"Y-you look like..." Charlie gasped; the jokester looked almost exactly like him, just younger.

"Hi, Dad." The newcomer grinned at Charlie, confirming his suspicion.

"Nice way to introduce yourself, Marley." A female that looked a lot like Sasha aside from being younger looking and having a green nose and outfit, frowned at her companion.

"You know he can't control himself, Tasha." A female that looked like a younger version of Bess joined the conversation.

"If you can stop doing that, we need to introduce ourselves." The final newcomer, a young Doberman, addressed his teammates before turning at Annabelle and the others.

"You're our son; Lance's and mine." Annabelle deduced instantly; besides being a Doberman, he looked almost exactly like Lance, even in his attitude, but his fur was a light purple tone, and his body irradiated heavenly magic.

"You're right about your assumptions, Mother. Please, call me Blaze." The young Doberman made a courteous nod, Lance almost fainting at this.

"Yes, call him Blaze, because his real name is Fester and he wants to be called Blaze." Marley joked, getting an annoyed look from Blaze.

"Our... Son..." Lance blushed intensely.

"And you two are my pups... mine and Sasha's, of course." Charlie looked at Marley and Tasha."I... I can't believe it... You look just like your mom... and you... Marley... great sense of humor."

"Thanks. And I don't just have your sense of humor, but your powers as well." Marley made his point by creating a light flame on his paw. "And Tasha has Mom's."

Tasha smiled and transformed herself into a perfect copy of Annabelle. When she changed back to normal a moment later, Charlie couldn't hold back anymore and hugged them both.

In the meantime, Itchy and Bess were staring at Ibanna. A quick sniff from Itchy confirmed that she was their daughter.

"Ibanna, right?" Bess asked, a bit stunned. "This is so..."

"I know. Crazy, uh?" Ibanna chuckled. "And before you ask, I have my own set of powers."

Ibanna concentrated hard for a few moments, and then divided herself into 4 identical females, each one with a differently colored outfit; red, blue, purple and white. Before Itchy and Bess could react, the blue outfitted one started jumping in front of them like a hyperactive puppy.

"This is so great! This is so great! Oh-my-gosh-oh-my-gosh-oh-my-gosh! I am meeting Mommy and Daddy before I was even born! Oh, oh, and now I can tell you all the things I want for Christmas for the next years..." The girl in blue was then stopped by the one in red.

"Soul, you're doing it again." The red one groaned before turning at Itchy and Bess. "One bit of advice; from now on, make yourselves the promise of never feeding her sugar."

"Sorry about that; Soul is very nice, but sometimes she's just too... hyperactive for her own good." The purple one spoke in a nice, polite tone.

"Soul... you mean, all of you are named after a spiritual thing or something like that?" Bess asked, still surprised.

"Not exactly, but not that wrong either." The one in white, talking in an educated way, approached Bess and Itchy. "Whenever Ibanna divides herself to create us, each one gets a distinctive personality that fits a particular side of Ibanna's psyche. I'm Mind, the rational and level-headed one; the one in purple is Heart, and, obviously, she is the representation of Ibanna's romantic and loving sides; the red one is Body, the most physical of us plus the representation of courage and impulsiveness..."

"Yep, that's little old me." Body grinned while finally releasing Soul. "And, yes, this one is Soul, our hyperactive, childish sister."

"Aw, you know you love me, Body." Soul gave Body a smile so contagious that soon everyone at the room had at least a little grin.

"Yes, yes, I know... you're lucky you also represent kindness and sense of humor." Body gave her a good natured punch in the shoulder.

"Fun and games aside... if I know the time travel's movies' basic plots, I guess you guys came here to help us with our problems, right?" Charlie asked the newcomers.

"You're right, Dad. We know about Belladonna's plan, and we came here, with the assistance of future Annabelle, to help you both save Mom and stop Belladonna and Manfred's plot."

"Yeah. Nobody messes with our family." Marley nodded at Tasha, the young male actually getting a very serious expression. It was obvious he had Charlie's personality; easy-going and friendly yet dead-serious when necessary.

Then everyone looked back at Annabelle, the archangel sighing yet smiling.

"I'll modify the protective spell to include our newcomers." The archangel got back to work immediately, this time pleasantly assisted by her son, Blaze, who seemed to be very magically - knowledgeable himself.

Back at Kibbleland, the circus performers finished hearing Sasha's story about how Donovan found her and how she didn't have any memories before finding herself at the Kibbleland's jungles.

"A remarkable yet... disturbing situation, I can see." Stripe said to Sasha.

"Yes, I'd hate to forget my own name... sure, I'd probably forget to hate it, but still..." Haley rubbed the back of her neck.

"I know. Donovan and I were discussing possible names for me, at least until I recover my memories." Sasha admitted.

"We can call you... Red, Setter, Sittah, Sistah..." Haley grinned while mentioning several options.

"Okay... let's stick with 'Red' for the time being." Sasha chuckled. "That one can actually work as a nickname when I recover my memories."

"Then, Red it is." Donovan grinned. "Now, Red, since you're staying here, and I hope you don't hate me for saying this, you'll need to cooperate with the show."

"Mmm... yes, I guess everyone has to work here." Sasha shrugged. "If you guys show me how to do chores, I can be part of the crew."

"But you can perform too!" Haley grinned at Sasha. "I can show you how to do clown stuff! You already have the nose... and yours is blue! You're already an original clown!"

"I'll... consider your offer." Sasha grinned back, not really anxious about clowning, but she had to admit her stay at the circus would actually be a bit funnier, or at least, easier to stand, if she could perform instead of just helping with the clean-up.

A few minutes later, the performers were back to practice; Sasha decided to help Darek with his act, as it seemed to be an easy part even if obviously a dangerous one. Basically, Sasha had to hold several targets while the dingo threw blades at them, with scary accuracy; the Red Setter was actually impressed at her own courage, since she didn't even felt nervous about this, despite some blades moving extremely close to her head.

"Hey, not bad." Darek said, impressed. "The others usually take turns to help me with my act, and even the bravest ones get nervous before the performance... well, Haley never gets nervous, but then again, she's very bad at staying still; when she's the one helping me, I'm the one who gets nervous."

"I am surprised at myself; no idea why the blades don't scare me. It's like if... I know they can't really hurt me even if you fail to throw them at me... Luckily for me, you hadn't missed a single time, but you get my point."

"Maybe you used to do some stuff so dangerous that doing this is nothing for you." Darek shrugged. "It seems you conserve your instincts even if not your memories."

"I guess you're right... but then, what kind of life did I have that was so dangerous I don't even fear getting slashed or stabbed?" Sasha sighed while helping Darek get the blades back in the suitcase he kept them in.

Before Darek could reply to that, Jasmine's yelp made everyone to look at her, and then to look up at what she was watching. In the high wire, Eddie had slipped, and he was now about to fall; usually, his balance was so good he would recover from this problem and get back to the wire without falling, but this time he was juggling while walking in the wire, and one of the balls hit him right in the eyes, messing with his coordination and now he was hanging from the wire, using just a few toes. And due to Eddie rarely needing it, there was no security net under him.

Then, before anyone else could do something to assist the wolf, Sasha jumped under the wolf and then stretched her limbs until she reached the wire, and when Eddie fell down, she caught him without troubles, making her arms so big and muscular she didn't even feel the large wolf's weight.

"Please, somebody tell me that I'm not the only one watching this..." Haley said while looking at the rescue in awe, just like the rest of her friends.

"Either your insanity is suddenly contagious, or we just witnessed something incredibly impressive." Stripe commented while Sasha placed Edie back on the ground.

"How... I... Red, that was awesome!" Eddie said when finding himself safe and sound."But how did you do it?"

"I... I have no idea. Amnesiac, remember?" Sasha admitted while looking at her still muscular arms.

"Well... guess you just earned your own act in the show, Red." Donovan said, equally impressed.

"B-but... I... this ability isn't normal, right? Even 'I' know that! This doesn't make me a freak?" Sasha gulped.

"You're saying that to the werewolf." Donovan pointed at himself. Sasha relaxed visibly, and this instantly made her limbs to return to normal.

"Yeah, Red; after hanging around with Haley, you no longer get freaked out as easily as most." Stripe commented.

"My work here is done!" Haley grinned before getting Sasha in a tight hug. "Welcome to the Freaky Club! Now we need credentials, and decoder rings, and a secret handshake, and a club house..."

"Better stop Haley before she starts selling T-shirts with her own logo." Jessie whispered at Jasmine while the others chuckled good-natured to the little display in front of them.

Sasha chuckled as well, realizing that, even if she had no memories, and apparently was a freak of nature, she was in the right place for someone in her situation, with enough support while recovering her memories, and time to find out what her powers could do. And it was fun to see Jacob shrugging and saluting Derek while saying 'Permission to be your new assistant since my act is no longer that cool'; obviously, being the circus' contortionist wasn't necessary now that someone far more flexible had arrived.

Back with Annabelle, she had finally finished the final touches for the protective spell. They had to ask Ibanna to get back to being just one dog so her own spell could be made faster. After a few moments, the game was perfectly protected and ready to receive the rescue team.

"There. This spell will protect the game from any of Belladonna's tricks, plus the protective shield Blaze and I set up around this room will alert the other angels in case Belladonna actually manages to break in." Annabelle explained.

"Okay, I have the dices here. Everyone's ready?" Charlie looked at his nodding companions and then threw the dices. Thanks to Annabelle's magic, all the dogs would be affected and sucked into the game by just one throw of the dices, instead of each dog making an individual throw.

No more than 2 seconds after throwing the dices, a vortex surged from the game and started sucking everyone in. Some of the rescuers, namely Marley and Blaze, had to remind themselves they actually wanted to get sucked inside the game, since their first instinct was using their own elemental powers to resist or neutralize the vortex. Soon, everyone was falling right in the middle of the Kibbleland Jungle... but not at the same spot Sasha had landed hours ago.

"At least we can be sure Sasha will not starve here." Bess, one of those that hadn't been previously inside the game, looked around in awe, finding everything was edible, even the ground.

"Yes, but in this jungle, the food can eat you." Itchy reminded her before taking a deep sniff. "Mmm... I don't get Sasha's scent."

"This jungle is as large as a normal one, Itchy, and we didn't use the same game that sucked Sasha in." Annabelle told the others. "It's like skydiving. If you don't jump right after your companions, you'll end falling many miles away from them."

"So, basically, we missed Sasha's 'landing spot' by a wide margin." Lance correctly guessed.

"Still, considering it's impossible to come here and stay at the same spot for long, Sasha must already be very far from wherever she originally landed." Charlie deduced.

"A very logical guess, Charlie." Ibanna nodded at him. "Maybe I should clone myself now, so we can divide into several search parties and start looking."

Since this was a good idea, Ibanna started concentrating to divide herself again.

"Uh, before you do that... why'd you call Charlie by his name and not, I don't know, 'Sir' or 'Uncle Charlie', or something like that?" Itchy asked his future daughter.

"Oh, come on, Dad, you think Charlie, even a future, older one, would be fine being addressed in such a formal way?" Ibanna chuckled. "His pups call him 'Dad', but Charlie himself insists that the rest of us call him by his normal name. The only one who 'Sirs' him is Blaze here, and only because he's formal all the time."

"Heh, yeah, that sounds just like me." Charlie chuckled before grinning at Lance while pointing at Blaze. "And he's definitely your son, Lancer-Boy."

Lance couldn't help but roll his eyes yet agree with Charlie's comment.

Ibanna finally divided into her four selves, and the whole group divided into four; Charlie, Marley and Tasha would go North; Itchy, Bess and Heart would go South; Blaze, Soul and Body would go East, and Annabelle, Mind and Lance would go West. They agreed on reuniting two hours later.

An hour later, Charlie, Marley and Tasha had come across a big top with a sign that has a picture of Sasha surrounded by other animals, which leads Charlie to believe that Sasha is here at this circus.

"Whoa. Sasha lost no time. She already got herself a job." Charlie was both relieved and impressed.

"Yeah… but check this out. Mom's being introduced as Red, La Stretch." Marley commented while reading the sign.

"Well, she's working in a circus. In show business, you always come up with these artistic names." Charlie shrugged. "And it's kinda catchy…"

Then suddenly, realization hit Charlie like a ton of bricks, Sasha wasn't supposed to use her powers during her pregnancy. Even worse, if she was hiding from Belladona or whatever agent she'd be sending, the worst thing she could do was showing her image in a circus sign.

"Oh, sweet mother of mercy, your mother's not supposed to use her powers at this point! It's one of the first rules we came up with concerning her pregnancy; if she stresses her body too much… Oh, we can't afford a miscarriage." Charlie gasped. "And seriously, she is announcing her whereabouts to everyone here! If Belladona sends someone after her, it's over!"

"This doesn't sound like something Mom would do." Tasha thought out loud. "She would keep a low-profile and try to find a way out of here without exposing herself more than necessary."

"I know! Your mother is the rational, cautious one; I'm the wacko with the show business-related plans!" Charlie groaned. "We need to get to this circus before Belladona's thugs find her… and, just in case…"

Charlie changed the dot on his suit to a fire symbol, and burned the sign to ashes that he then mixed with kibble, and ate the whole thing in a single bite.

"Hope you're hungry, Dad." Marley pointed at another sign not that far away from them. Charlie groaned, realizing he couldn't destroy every single sign.

"Let's just find your mother and get out of here." Charlie and his teen pups went into the big top now.

At first, Charlie, Marley and Tasha thought it would be hard to enter, since, after all, they were pretty much entering uninvited before the circus' official show. They were thinking about how to get in without being discovered when the other search parties arrived.

"You saw the signs too, uh?" Tasha said to Ibanna's other 'clones/sisters' right before they got fused back together.

"I think every single dog here saw them. For a semi-deserted place, Kibbleland has a big enough canine population." Ibanna said.

"We destroyed a few signs, but it's safe to assume Sasha's image was already seen by too many dogs by now." Lance pointed out.

"And why did she agree on appearing on the signs… or just to be in a circus where anyone can see her? Even more, why is she using her powers?" Itchy was as puzzled as Charlie.

"I don't know, but we'll ask her when we see her. Right now, we must enter and see if she's fine, and then get out of here as soon as we can." Annabelle said to her nodding companions.

As they entered the circus' terrains, the group expected to find some sort of security force, but it seemed all the performers and whatever staff was currently at the main tent, and they could hear them cheering and encouraging someone. As they approached, Charlie smiled when sensing Sasha's scent… but then frowned a bit.

"_That's weird. This scent… no, it can't be him. But…"_

Charlie gasped when finally entering the tent. Apparently the whole circus crew was here, and, in the middle of them, Sasha was juggling assorted items the crew was throwing at her; she extended her arms and enlarged her hands/paws to catch everything and throw it up to continue juggling, doing it in such a spectacular way it seemed she had been doing it for years.

"Whoa. Just look at her." Itchy said in amazement. "Balls, discs, shoes, weights, knives… they're throwing everything but…"

"Incoming!"

The group watched in amazement as a hyena girl, in a clown outfit, added a kitchen sink to the mix, Sasha catching it without problems.

"Remember to put that back in the kitchen when we're done here."

"Why are you complaining? I'm the one washing the dishes tonight." The hyena grinned at the coyote before she finally noticed the newcomers. "Hey, look, we're getting an audience."

"Look, guys, you can't be here while we rehearse…" The dog turning at the newcomers stopped and stared at Charlie, who just stared back at him in disbelief. "Charlie?"

"Donovan?"

Donovan and Charlie sniffed each other for a few moments.

"You… you can't be you…"

"Then, who am I supposed to be? Charlie Sheen?"

"Yeah. It's you." Donovan arched an eyebrow before chuckling and getting Charlie in a tight embrace. "Brother, never thought I'd see you again!"

"And I never thought I'd see you throwing knives and cotton candy at my wife."

"Wife…" Donovan gasped and released Charlie before looking at his brother's companions and then back at Sasha, who had stopped juggling. "Okay… two things; one, you always had good taste, Charlie; and two… how did you and your friends end here? I mean, how did you get involved with Belladona?"

"Okay, one, yeah, I know, I have good taste; and two, I work for Belladona's cousin." Charlie pointed at Annabelle. "Donovan, meet Annabelle, Belladona's nice relative; Annabelle, guys, meet Donovan, my long-lost and not-as-handsome-as-myself brother."

"Glad to meet you in person, Donovan." Annabelle, of course, being in charge of all the dogs' spirits, knew about Charlie's family, but even she didn't know about Donovan's whereabouts for the last few years. "And sorry I couldn't save you and your friends from my cousin's machinations."

"In other words, you're sorry we screwed up our lives and made ourselves dumb enough for Belladona to send us here?" The hyena girl approached the group now, saying this with a casual smile before turning back at the coyote. "Learn from her, Stripe; from now on, you're gonna apologize every time I make a mess."

"As if I didn't do it all the time." The coyote groaned.

"Even if you made your own mistakes, I'm in charge of all the dogs, and to make sure they'll get to Heaven. What Belladona does isn't my fault but correcting and prevent her misdeeds is my responsibility." Annabelle paused when realizing not all of the performers were dogs. "In my defense… it seems Belladona doesn't limit herself to dogs; that must make her job much easier as some of her misdeeds aren't entirely done in my jurisdiction."

"Uh, excuse me, but…" Sasha, puzzled at the newcomers' arrival and how they knew Belladona, the one that, apparently, sent her here, approached them now along with the rest of the circus crew. Sasha didn't finish talking because Charlie, after his brief re-meeting with his brother, was now hugging her. The rest of the performers tried to push him away but Sasha stopped them.

"N-no, guys, wait… you heard them… It seems they know who I am."

"What do you mean with that?" Charlie separated himself a bit but still kept his hands/paws on Sasha's shoulders. "Sasha, it's me, Charlie. You know, your husband? Father of your pups? Guardian angel? Handsome, cool, very funny at parties?"

"Uh, Charlie… I hate to give you some bad news, but she's amnesiac." Donovan got Charlie's attention now. "I found her several miles away from here, and she didn't even remember she had superpowers until we arrived here at the circus and found out by accident."

"Yeah; in fact, we've been calling her 'Red' because she doesn't remember her name. Oh, by the way, I'm Jessie." The female fox said to Charlie and company.

"How did that…" Itchy looked back at Annabelle.

"Remember that there were powerful supernatural forces involved when Sasha was sent here and that's precisely why I couldn't locate her with ease." Annabelle explained. "It's possible this also affected her memory."

The canine archangel then gently asked Charlie to step aside while she placed a hand/paw on Sasha's forehead, and a moment later it started glowing intensely.

"There… Yes, there's a spell here blocking your memories; it wasn't conjured on purpose." Annabelle concentrated a bit before the glow disappeared. "On the bright side, it seems your pups are okay, but better stop using your powers, just for safety sake, alright?"

Sasha nodded while Annabelle summoned a miracle dog tag, and placed it around her neck.

"There. This will not heal your memory but it will unblock the spell affecting it, so you can recover it by yourself. Usually, the kiss of your true love would be enough, but for that to work, it's important that you remember who's your true love." Annabelle explained before looking back at Charlie, who nodded and then showed Sasha their wedding collars.

"Here. Read it, please."

Sasha noticed the inscription on the collars and smiled.

"Charlie Loves Sasha." The elastic female looked back at Charlie. "So… y-you're my husband… And… I… Charlie, do I love you back?"

"Well, what do you think?" Charlie smiled back at her. "I mean, what's not to love about me?"

"Modest, isn't he?" Jacob rolled his eyes, as well as most of Charlie's group, but Sasha and Donovan chuckled at this.

"Yeah, that's his sense of humor. Humor him; my brother thinks he's funny."

"I kinda agree with that." Sasha now had a warm feeling in her chest. "I don't remember you, Charlie, but right now, I really wish I could."

"Then, let me give you a reminder." Charlie gave her a tender, warm smile, before kissing her long and tenderly. Sasha then wrapped one of her elastic arms around him as she kissed back.

"Hate to interrupt this…" Lance cleared his throat; obviously, Charlie and Sasha didn't pay him any attention but everyone else did.

"Oh, come on! Don't you see we're enjoying the show?" Haley, who now was holding a tub of popcorn, booed at Lance. "Party-Pooper!"

"Hey, sorry… really, I mean, I'm glad we found Sasha and that she and Charlie are together… and… stop throwing me popcorn…"

"Make me." Haley grinned and continued doing just that. Lance groaned and continued.

"What I mean is, Kibbleland is a very dangerous place, and Belladona surely has agents searching for Sasha now. And with all those circus signs, they're meant to find this place in no time."

"Why she's searching for Sasha? I mean, why looking for someone she sent here in the first place?" Eddie arched an eyebrow.

"Because I'm pregnant with the new Christ!"

Sasha had stopped the kiss the moment her memories returned. The performers wide opened their eyes in surprise.

"Hold on…" Haley took out a soda can, took a sip, and spitted it out, soaking Stripe in the process. **"WHAT?"**

"Nice to have you back, Sasha." Annabelle smiled while the rest of her friends surrounded her for a group hug, and Annabelle continued explaining. "What Sasha said is true; one of her pups is blessed with the Christ's spirit, and therefore will be the most important canine in history. Belladona, obviously, wants to find Sasha to make sure her pups are never born, or worse, she can kidnap her and keep Sasha prisoner until the pups are born, and then corrupt them."

"Basically creating an Anti-Christ." Donovan tried guessing.

"Nah, 'cause there's already an Anti-Christ; his name's Jake, and me and Sasha adopted him as our foster son after he was abandoned by his birth mother." Charlie explained.

"Whoa. You adopted the ultimate problem child?" Darek was pretty impressed. "You have courage, Yankee."

"Why would his mother abandon him?" Jasmine asked now.

"To protect him from Belladonna, 'cause she want to use him to bring about the end of the world but, obviously, we're not letting it happen." Charlie added. "Sasha and me wanted to give Jake the chance to live a normal life not as some demonic deity that would bring about the apocalypse but as a lovable hero."

"Adopt me too!" Haley gave Charlie some big puppy eyes.

"Sorry, the daycare is already too full. Good luck next time." Charlie grinned while Haley snapped her fingers, and then the dog and hyena chuckled a bit.

"Hey, Donnie, your brother's funny." Haley grinned at Donovan.

"Great. Now there's two of them." Stripe groaned while Donovan looked back at his brother.

"And how had the adoption thing been working?"

"Actually, we've been teaching him to use his powers for good, anyway let's get out of here."

"Wait take all of us with you."

"Well, duh. When I said 'let's get out of here', I was including you and your circus buddies. After all, I'm not leaving my brother here." Charlie smirked at Donovan.

"Charlie's right. Besides, considering Belladona's agents can't be far from here, you'll all be in great risk if staying here." Annabelle pointed out. "Give me a few minutes to prepare the teleportation spell; it will be a bit harder since I'll be teleporting a very large group."

"Not so fast, Annabelle."

The group turned to see a very menacing Manfred growling at them.

"We really need to hire a security staff." Jasmine groaned as Charlie and his group formed a defensive circle around Sasha and the performers.

"Sorry, Manfred, but the show got cancelled. Now get out of here before we cancel you too." Charlie glared at the Boxer, who just smirked and gave Sasha a predatory glare.

"Oh, but the show's just getting started. And I think I'm just in time for the main act."

"My friend, if you know what's good for you, you'll leave the premises instantly." Donovan stepped ahead, growling softly at Manfred. "I can smell Belladona's stench all over you, so don't expect us to be kind if we defend ourselves."

"I wasn't expecting it. I wasn't being kind either." Manfred smirked before spitting at Donovan. Charlie barely had time to push his brother aside, saving him from Manfred's acidic saliva.

"Hey! It's not polite to spit!" Hayley frowned at Manfred, growling. "You're cleaning that, Mister!"

"Let me do that." Charlie summoned a waterball, shooting it at Manfred, but the Boxer evaporated it with a fire blast. The Boxer then snapped his fingers and his back-up entered the circus by ripping off holes on the tent.

"Well, they really can make a good entrance." Jacob growled while taking out his knives, the performers and Charlie's group now surrounded by the Iron Wolf Mongers.

"Get out of here. We'll handle them." Lance said to the performers as he summoned his own battle suit.

"Sorry, Big Guy, but we're not leaving. This is our circus, and we're defending it." Jasmine, the performer closest to Lance, frowned at the Mongers while the rest of the performers agreed.

"Jasmine speaks for all of us." Donovan frowned while transforming himself into his lycanthrope form, surprising Charlie and company. "And you're not the only dog that learned new tricks, Charlie."

"Heh. Guess showing-off runs in the family." Charlie smirked. "Alright, Brother, let's show these guys that they messed with the wrong family."

"In other words…" Haley took out a cream pie. "**IT'S SHOOOOOOOWTIME!"**

The hyena threw the pie at a Wolf Monger, blinding it, and leaving it vulnerable to Itchy's attack, in the form of a giant battle hammer. Manfred and the other Mongers jumped into action, and the rest of the heroes and performers started fighting back.

"Charles, take Sasha out of here!" Annabelle said while pouncing on Manfred, who teleported himself to avoid her attack, and appeared right behind Sasha, summoning his attack lance/spear.

"Get over here!" Manfred shot the spear at Sasha, but it got intercepted by Itch, who cut the spear with his katana blades. The dachshund then full hand taunted Manfred to a fist fight.

"Brave enough to fight me one on one, Manfred?" Itchy smirked while Charlie used this chance to get Sasha out of the tent.

"Pretty big talk from such a little guy." Manfred smirked, and then his fists got covered by an icy wind. "Time to make you a 'cold dog'."

"You got cold hands; here, have my mittens!"

Manfred couldn't shoot the icy blast at Itchy because Haley, out of nowhere, covered his paws with oversized clown gloves, that got instantly frozen but succeeded in cutting the attack. Manfred tried to get rid of the gloves but now Itchy was the one taking this chance to punch his face at full force, sending Manfred the other side of the tent, while Haley covered his back by throwing assorted props at the Wolf Mongers, nothing really damaging them but keeping them distracted so they couldn't attack Itchy from behind.

As this happened, Charlie and Sasha were finally out of the tent, but they found some Wolf Mongers waiting for them outside. Charlie was ready to strike them but the attackers were sent back by a glowing blast, courtesy of Annabelle's holy powers.

"Charles, you and Sasha go to the point where we first arrived. We'll meet you there." Annabelle said to a nodding Charlie before attacking the Mongers, her energy blasts doing some decent damage.

"No, we have to get to London-Broil Bridge, it's the only exit out of here." Charlie reminded her.

"And it's VERY far away. I can use my powers to open a secondary exit, even if it will take some time. Besides, Belladona surely has guards at the London-Broil exit."

"That's exactly why we have to get there, the spell would take too long and we'll be captured before you even finish it."

Annabelle groaned; she didn't like arguing with Charlie, specially in the middle of a battle situation, and with both sides having valid points. She decided to use his idea since, after all, despite her powers and experience, Charlie still had more experience at dealing with nearly-impossible-win situations, plus this issue concerned mostly his wife and pups' safety.

"Fine then." Annabelle actually destroyed a Monger this time. "Go to London-Broil Bridge, but stay hidden. If you see the place is too well secured, leave without being seen, and go to our landing point."

Charlie and Sasha nodded, accepting this idea, and they left in a hurry. Another Monger got past Annabelle's attacks and was about to blast them from behind but Donovan jumped out of the tent and pounced on it, the lycanthrope pummeling the metal being at full force.

Inside the tent, Manfred growled in frustration. He and the Mongers were more than ready to battle Annabelle and her forces, but they didn't expect the circus performers to put on such a good fight, not to mention they used tactics they weren't ready for, specially the large lycanthrope and the clownish hyena. The rest of the performers weren't doing that much damage but their antics and moves distracted and delayed the Mongers so the superpowered heroes could destroy them with relative ease, and Manfred himself was too busy fighting Itchy to be an effective leader for his troops; the moment Bess took down a Monger, and dashed to assist Itchy, Manfred realized he was gonna lose this fight unless getting more support; he summoned a thick mist to cover himself up for a few moments while he howled loudly.

"What is he doing? His howling is a superpower too?" Eddie asked to nobody in particular, as he and the other performers minus Donovan ganged on another Monger.

"Not a power; it's a call!" Donovan got back inside the tent, dodging another Monger. "Several more of those things are coming!"

Annabelle frowned and flew on top of the tent, looking at the squad flying at the circus. As Donovan said, there were a lot; at least twice more than those they were already battling.

"The bad news… they're too many. The good news… they're outside, and up in the sky." Annabelle surrounded herself with a holy glow, so bright, that those inside the tent actually stopped fighting in surprise. "In other words, **I don't need to hold back!"**

Annabelle clapped her paws, producing a thunder-like sound, followed by an energy wave that covered the whole sky. A second later, all the Mongers went down, most of them already destroyed, while the rest was pretty much moving scrap metal.

"And this is what happens when a canine archangel goes full power." Lance took a look outside, visibly amazed yet not too surprised, as he was the one with the most knowledge about Annabelle's real capacities. Being a responsible archangel, Annabelle usually held back a lot when fighting to avoid collateral damage or even hurting her enemies too much; however, against non-living targets, and with enough space to attack without worrying about injuring an ally or innocent bystander, she was pure celestial might at work.

Manfred, who counted on these Mongers to improve his chances of winning, actually paled at this. Even worse, he realized that, to get these enforcers, he had to call for most of the extra Mongers that were currently guarding a place that had to be secured at all times.

"THIS ISN'T OVER YET!" Manfred used his chameleon-like powers to turn himself invisible… but Stripe, Jessie and Jasmine, who had positioned themselves on the trapeze to get an aerial look on the battle, covered him with the ammo they were currently carrying; cotton candy's mix. Manfred's invisibility was rendered useless due to the pink substance covering him, not to mention it also blinded the Boxer, who didn't see a dachshund's fist coming until Itchy sucker punched him right in his snout.

"That's my Fiance." Bess grinned at this before she and Lance pounced on Manfred, Lance securing the Boxer on the ground with his weapon while Bess punched his face, and then Itchy secured Manfred with a chain. The villain was so stunned by the multiple attacks that he couldn't teleport or use any other power to escape; a few seconds later, he was out cold.

"We must leave now." Donovan said while looking around, morphing back to normal, and sighing a bit sadly at how the fight had destroyed most of the circus. "Guess it's a good thing we're leaving Kibbleland today because otherwise it would take us ages to repair this place for another show."

"Yeah; before leaving, we have to make sure Manfred doesn't chase after us when he recovers." Itchy commented. "Do you have some ropes, chains or…"

"We're like musicians; we have HEAVY METAL. " Haley grinned before grabbing one of the destroyed Monger's arms, and played air guitar with it.

"Bad joking aside, Haley's right. We can cover this felon with these metallic parts; it would be like encasing him in steel." Stripe said as he and the other performers grabbed the Mongers' remains, and started piling them on top of Manfred's unconscious body.

"Good thinking. Let me help a bit." Annabelle entered the tent and used her magic on the metallic parts, fusing them together to create a real box/prison around Manfred. "With my magic enforcing the metal, Manfred will not be able to just teleport out of the box; he'll need to literally break out, and that will take him a long time, even with his destructive powers."

As this happened, Sasha and Charlie were already a few miles away. They had to literally bury themselves in kibble when they saw the Mongers flying at the circus; they also got a light snack while doing it.

"Do you think our friends will be okay?" Sasha was a bit worried now. "Those were too many Mongers."

"Yeah, but did you see that glow?" Charlie smirked a bit. "After seeing that, now I realize how much patience Annabelle has with me."

"Charlie, anyone who spends time with you has to develop saint-like patience." Sasha grinned. "Of course, you're worthy of it."

"Yeah, that's the Sasha I know and love." Charlie grinned back before kissing her again. "Welcome back, Love."

"Good to be back, Love." Sasha smiled tenderly.

"As much as I like this romantic interlude, let's hurry up now, before Belladona realizes her cousin just went all demolition derby on her troops, and sends a few dozens more."

Sasha nodded, and a moment later, they went back to running at Kibbleland's (usually) only exit.


	7. Lovers Reunited

Chapter 7 - Lovers Reunited

Charlie and Sasha didn't stop running until they were halfway to London-Broil Bridge; then, Charlie suggested her to change to jogging-like.

"Charlie, we have to get there as soon as possible…"

"And you have to take care of your health and the pups'." Charlie reminded her.

"Oh… good point. Long steps then." Sasha elongated her limbs so each of her steps, even if jogging, covered as much distance as several 'quick running steps', as Charlie could tell since he now had to run to keep up with her.

"Good… but remember, elongated limbs only. The rest of your body must stay the same size…"

"Charlie, I know you care, but now you're the one who must remember something; I'm not handicapped, and even if I'm pregnant, I still can do some stuff by myself." Sasha, despite what others thought, really disliked talking severely to Charlie, but even her husband would agree that this was necessary whenever, for good or bad, he was going a bit too far.

"I know, I know… sorry, Sasha, but… I was really scared when you disappeared… and then, knowing Belladonna would send her agents after you…and to be honest this is my first time being a father… of course, it's also your first time being a mother… but, to be honest, you're gonna do a much better job than me… not that we're competing or anything but..."

Sasha gave him a tender smile; sometimes she forgot that, under his confident, sarcastic, egotistical exterior, Charlie could be the most caring, sensitive guy around, with his fair share of self-doubts when it came to really important things. Not to mention that, when they got separated, she lost her memories, and even if this made her very uncomfortable and doubtful, she couldn't remember anything that would make her really nervous or concerned; Charlie, on the other hand, probably was feeling nothing but anguish every single second she was lost.

"Charlie, cool down. Yes, you're not famous for being a responsible, level-headed guy, but that doesn't mean you can't be one when you need to. And you're famous for making the best out of difficult situations; no matter how bad things can go, you always, and I mean ALWAYS, come up with a plan to solve them, even if at times you have no idea of what you're doing; and, by some sort of miracle, things tend to work for you in the end." Sasha stopped jogging for a moment to elongate her neck and kiss him. "And for those times when your 'miraculous luck' fails, well, you have me to cover up whenever you mess up."

"Heh… you're the only gal I know that can praise and humble me in the same sentence." Charlie chuckled a bit. "Thanks, Sasha… or… should I start calling you 'Red'? It's a nice nickname."

Sasha rolled her eyes as Charlie got back to his usual self, and they got back on the move. Finally, when Charlie realized they were getting closer to the London-Broil Bridge, he told her to stop moving but to elongate her neck a bit more.

"Try to take a look around, but be careful so we do not get spotted ourselves." Charlie instructed her.

"Got it." Sasha looked around, enlarging her eyes to plate-size to improve her vision even more. "Mmm… I see the exit… but… that's weird. I see only two Mongers guarding it."

"Only two? Mmm… take another look around; maybe there are more hidden." Charlie frowned slightly. Obviously, Annabelle was right, and Belladonna and Manfred set up some guards at this exit, but only two?

"No more guards, really." Sasha returned her neck back to normal.

"Mmm… of course!" Charlie exclaimed. "The Mongers we saw a while ago; they were these two guards' back-up. Manfred didn't expect your circus friends to be a problem, but when they did, he had to call them…"

"And left only these two Mongers guarding the exit. That makes sense." Sasha nodded. "So, should we take them down ourselves, or wait until the others arrive?"

"Let's get closer, and see if we can take them down; if Annabelle and the others arrive on time, maybe we can all attack them at once and make it a simple beating-off instead of a full fight." Charlie suggested. He was sure he could defeat two Mongers with ease, but he didn't want to risk Sasha getting injured in a fight, no matter how brief.

"Alright then." Sasha said as they continued walking to the Bridge, and then she remembered something. "One thing, Charlie; I now remember there were other dogs along with you and the others. Are they, I don't know, more of Annabelle's special guardian angels that I hadn't met yet?"

"No, they're our pups from the future." Charlie shrugged. Sasha stopped walking and her jaw hit the ground.

"**WHAT?"**

"Heh… sorry for not telling you before… In my defense, we were too busy trying to fix up your memories, and Manfred arrived before we could have a proper family meeting. Besides, I'm not the only one bringing special family guests; you surprised me too with my long lost lycanthropic brother."

"Pups from the future, werewolf siblings… if we ever met a zombie pirate distant, twice-removed cousin, I'm quitting." Sasha groaned.

"Hey, if you have one of those, we can get a contract with Disney; maybe even a movie deal." Charlie grinned. Sasha shook her head while her husband started telling her about their pups.

Said pups were already running along with the circus performers and the rest of the 'original' rescue group, heading to the bridge at top speed. Lance was running behind the group, guarding their back in case Manfred or another Monger started chasing after them, while Donovan, back to his lycanthrope form, ran several yards ahead, also anticipating any surprise attack, plus in this shape he was the group's fastest (except for Annabelle when flying) and he would get ahead anyway.

"Too bad we didn't have any time to take our luggage." Jessie said, she and the other performers only carrying small bags with whatever little belongings they could gather in a few minutes.

"I did take mine." Haley grinned while showing her bag, that was considerably larger.

"Easy for you; you already carry half of your stuff all the time!" Jacob chuckled.

"And also half of yours!" Haley took a pink toy panda out of the luggage. "Guess who owns this one."

"First thing I'm doing when we get out of here will be putting my stuff in a safety deposit box." Stripe groaned.

"Heh, this girl looks as if she'd be carrying that deposit box too." Bess commented at the coyote, who just rolled his eyes yet nodded.

"You'll have time to find out pretty soon." Annabelle ordered a stop. "We're getting closer now. And I can smell Charlie and Sasha; they ran over here not long ago."

"Which means we must be ready to help them in case there are more Mongers around." Itchy correctly guessed. Donovan, who had stopped running too, made some signs at the group. "What's he doing?"

"Sign language." Stripe explained him. "We used it at the circus all the time, so we could help each other through the performances without needing to voice the indications."

"And it's also handy to play charades." Haley smiled while looking at the signs. "Whoa! Cool down, Donnie; I never get you when you stutter."

Donovan realized some of his signs weren't that clear due to distance, but he didn't dare using his voice since it was possible some enemy could hear them. So, he just made the signs much more slowly than usual.

"Ah… Oh, he says he found Sasha and Charlie. And… to be quiet. Mmm… I guess there really are some enemies around here." Eddie translated for those who didn't know the signs language. The group approached the lycanthrope, who was now crawling to make himself less visible.

After a few minutes, the group found Sasha and Charlie's hiding place; behind some rocks and not so far from the bridge. They also saw a pair of Mongers guarding the exit. Sasha pretty much beamed when seeing her pups, even if still a bit weirded out by the fact she was currently pregnant with these very same pups; the elastic female elongated her arms and hugged them happily; the pups hugged back, nobody making a sound as they still had to worry about the Mongers hearing them; after some moments, they finally introduced themselves in whispers.

"So… may I hear your names, so I can know what to call you all when you're born?" Sasha half-joked.

"I'm Tasha and as you can see I pretty much have the same powers as you do." Tasha said as she showed Sasha her elongated form.

"And I'm Marley; I can do pretty much the same things Dad can." Marley grinned as he conjured two fireballs."Want us to show you?"

"Mmm… how about a live demonstration?" Charlie smirked while pointing at the and Tasha grinned, getting the idea, and they got ready to attack the Mongers.

"Charlie, shouldn't we…"

"Relax, Itch." Charlie interrupted his friend. "Sasha and I already checked it out; there's only those two Mongers guarding the exit. The pups can handle them with ease, and if they need help, we can attack all at once.. And, speaking of attacks, where's Manfred? You guys beat him up, right?."

"Yes, and he's trapped inside a steel box. Still, we have to hurry up with this; even with most of the Mongers defeated, we don't know if Belladonna will check-up on them." Annabelle reminded everyone.

A few second later, Tasha jumped over the Mongers, elongating and flattening her whole body to form a net-like shape, covering the metallic foes. After they struggled to break free for some moments, Tasha uncovered their heads, right in time for Marley to blast them off with well placed fireballs.

"Excellent performance. Those two have a good act." Donovan commented.

"Yeah, it took them less than 10 seconds." Stripe, who, being the circus' ringmaster, always had to care about each act's proper timing and schedule the practice's sessions, made a quick calculation. "In fact, 8.5 seconds."

"Heh, are you sure you're a coyote and not a WATCH dog?" Haley joked as the group started walking towards the exit. Annabelle, again, was flying over them, in case the bridge collapsed or had any other naughty surprise.

"**ANNABELLE!"**

"Speaking of naughty…" Annabelle turned to see Belladonna and Manfred dashing towards them; Belladona was using her powers to levitate Manfred so he could fly aside her.

"MANFRED, STOP THEM!" Belladona gave her servant/lover a telekinetic push, throwing him over the group; Manfred was already charging a powerful ice beam, ready to freeze all the heroes in a single hit. Lance changed his weapon into a shield, blocking the freezing attack, but his shield got covered in a thick, heavy ice layer, and even with his protective armor, Lance's arms got numb from the cold.

Charlie and Itchy moved next to Lance, ready to battle Manfred and covering for the rest of the group, as they continued running through the bridge. Annabelle started battling Belladona but managed to glance occasionally at her protegees; she was now more than a bit worried, as it seemed Belladona had augmented Manfred's power after releasing him from the steely prison they left him in, and Annabelle herself couldn't go full power on her cousin without risking her protegees' lives.

"No miracle is gonna save you this time, Cousin!" Belladonna grinned while summoning fire whips to attack Annabelle.

"Thanks for reminding me of the miracles, Cousin." Annabelle smirked slightly before dodging a whip attack, and then yelled out loud. "CHARLES, THE MIRACLE DOG TAG! YOU STILL HAVE IT?"

"YEAH, WOULDN'T LOSE SOMETHING THAT VALUABLE! IT'S NOT EXACTLY A BOTTLE CAP." Charlie yelled back while he and Itchy traded attacks with Manfred, and Lance was finally starting to recover from the freezing blast's effects.

"A SIMPLE 'YES' WAS ENOUGH!" Annabelle dodged another strike. "CHARLES, HOLD THAT TAG, AND YOU, ITCHY AND LANCE, HAVE TO CONCENTRATE AND SAY 'UNITE AND STRIKE'!"

"CONCENTRATE? ON WHAT?" Now Itchy was the one yelling while dodging an acid attack.

"ON DEFEATING MANFRED, THE THREE OF YOU AT ONCE!"

"Good enough for me." Charlie looked back at Sasha, who was already the other side of the bridge. "Sasha, quick, throw me the…"

Sasha stretched her arm and gave Charlie the miracle dog tag right in his hands.

"Much easier." Sasha grinned slightly.

"Heh. Yeah, a lot." Charlie grinned before getting a much more serious look. "Alright, guys, let's do this."

Lance and Itchy stood at Charlie's sides, the three dogs growling at Manfred, who was getting ready to attack again.

"You think I'll give you the time to…" Manfred was interrupted by a triple strike; an energy blast from Charlie, a shuriken from Itchy, and a tsunami attack from Lance. The Boxer jumped and got fully defensive, dodging Charlie's attack but getting Itchy's shuriken on his shoulder, getting him off-balance and unprepared for the tsunami, that sent him several feet back.

"Now, while he's down!" Charlie raised the miracle dog tag, and he and his friends chorused "**UNITE AND STRIKE!"**

The miracle dog tag glowed intensely for a few moments, and then the glow covered the three dogs. An instant later, Itchy and Lance's glowing forms were absorbed by Charlie's, and then the glow disappeared, revealing Charlie with a Lance-like armor with Itchy's color design. Also, the glow remained in Charlie's eyes, and his armor seemed to be a bit bulkier than Lance's original one.

"Hey, a three-for-one offer!" Haley exclaimed. "It's like Wednesday at the circus!"

"And it seems it's time for the main act." Donovan, who was as surprised as everyone else, got a sly grin then. "Go get him, Brother."

Manfred growled when seeing what had happened.

"Doesn't matter. In fact, now my job is easier; I can destroy the three of you at once!" Manfred threw a flaming attack that got countered by another tsunami.

"No, it makes things easier for us." Charlie's voice had an echo now, with Itchy and Lance's chorusing his own. "Now the three of us can beat you up at the same time!"

Charlie shot an energy blast that Manfred tried to stop with an ice wall; the blast destroyed the wall, and then it turned into a barrage of shurikens. Manfred teleported right on time to avoid them, but, when he reemerged, he was instantly hit by a super fast tackling move followed by a judo throw. Manfred stood back and summoned a storm cloud, but Charlie dissipated it with a wind blast before the villain even had a chance to use it; Manfred turned invisible again, but Charlie now had a 'Kunai and Chain' weapon-like, moving it in a quick circling motion until it trapped the invisible dog's leg; Charlie smirked and sent an energy pulse through the chain, shocking Manfred and making him visible again before yanking him at full force, and connecting a hard punch on his jaw when he was close enough.

"Y-you… stu…" Manfred, in pain, looked up at Charlie, but couldn't stop talking since Charlie was now using the chain to 'muzzle' him.

"No spitting in class." Charlie smirked; he had correctly guessed Manfred could still use his acidic saliva or flame breath, and the chain prevented these attacks plus keeping him silent. Charlie looked up in the sky to see Annabelle and Belladona still fighting, realizing the archangel was having a hard time, and this gave him an idea.

"You and your fancy tricks won't save you this time!" Belladona growled while still attacking her cousin.

"Fancy tricks? Look who's barking." Annabelle actually smirked. "If you like old tricks better, how about this one? Go fetch!"

Annabelle flew up while Belladona gave her a puzzled look.

"Fetch? Fetch what?"

"**Your boyfriend!"**

Belladona heard Charlie's voice, and, when looking down, she barely had time to gasp before getting hit by Manfred's battered body, as Charlie had thrown him up by using the chain to gain impulse, Olympic-throwing style. The impact stunned both villains but Belladona still had enough strength left to catch Manfred and to keep them both up in the air.

"Why you little…"

"You're very stressed, Cousin. Let's play a game." Annabelle grinned while forming a bright energy sphere on her hands/paws. "Go get the ball!"

Belladonna actually trembled in fear now; stunned and holding Manfred, she wouldn't be able to dodge or block this attack.

"No-no-no-no, Annabelle, stop, no, time out, wait…"

**BLAM!**

The energy ball hit Belladonna and Manfred with the explosive force of a missile, and sent them several miles away. Annabelle grinned a bit at this.

"And Team Dumbest got blasted off again!" Charlie chuckled at the sight.

"Well done, Charles… and Lance and Itchy… Better defuse now before I need to come up with a combined name that would sound quite awful." Annabelle grinned while landing next to the fused canine. "Just hold the miracle dog tag, and yell 'DIVIDE AND CONQUER' so you three can separate."

"Got it." Charlie did as said. "**DIVIDE AND CONQUER!"**

A moment later, the fused dog got covered by the heavenly glow again, and soon it defused into Charlie, Itchy and Lance.

"Whoa… Charlie and I had always been very close, but this is a whole new level." Itchy half-joked.

"I just hope I didn't get any of your fleas. No offense." Lance then covered his muzzle. "Oh, great, I still have some of Charlie's sarcasm."

"Consider it an improvement." Charlie grinned before giving back the miracle dog tag. "That was a good trick, Annabelle. Why didn't we use it before?"

"Most of the time, your numbers and teamwork are more effective than having a single, super-powered individual; it's only in special cases, when facing a very powerful enemy with little time to score a win, that the fusion provides a real advantage." Annabelle explained while they crossed the bridge. "Not to mention that many times we literally have to use the 'divide and conquer' strategy, dividing our forces into attending several tasks at once."

"And in those cases, the more the merrier, uh? Gotcha." Charlie nodded back at Annabelle as they finally got in front of the exit. Annabelle then looked back at the distance where Belladonna and Manfred had landed.

"They'll must surely be unconscious for a while, but we can't risk them chasing after us. I think we can use this chance to trap them here in Kibbleland."

"You have a knack for ironic punishment, my fair lady." Stripe gave Annabelle an approving nod. "But what about the other dogs and assorted canines Belladonna has captured here over the years?"

"I can still create portals to take them out of here, one at a time if I need to. However, this exit, the main one, must get blocked or sealed for good." Annabelle explained while using the miracle dog tag on the door, opening it, and also making it glow with divine energy. "There. Since I've opened this exit with Heavenly Power, now this is the only way to open the door; and since, obviously, Belladonna and Manfred possess nothing but hellish powers, they'll be unable to use the exit even if she's the one who made it originally."

A moment later, all the heroes and circus performers left Kibbleland for good, Annabelle also using the miracle dog tag on her way out, so the exit was now blocked from the outside as well.

"Oh, yeah! We're finally out of that place!" Donovan and his circus pals celebrated.

"YEAH! Sure, I'm gonna miss being able to eat the ground under my paws… but yeah, it's great to be out!" Haley did a little victory dance while the others chuckled at the scene, and Sasha called her pups aside; she knew they'd need to leave back to their own time very soon, and she wanted to catch up with them before they left.


	8. Epilogue - Were A Family Now

Epilogue - We're A Family Now

Some months had passed since the Kibbleland adventure. Charlie and Sasha's pups, obviously, had to return to their own time after a couple of days, but the family enjoyed this, and it made Charlie and Sasha even happier about becoming parents. Not to mention Donovan was looking forward to being an uncle.

Speaking of Donovan and the circus performers, Annabelle found them a circus they could join without problems; they really loved this life, and those who were from wild species were too 'civilized' (even Haley) to live in the wild by themselves. The only problem was that Donovan no longer could use his lycanthropic powers in front of the audience, since, obviously, a werewolf would make humans panic and Donovan would end locked in some lab; Charlie's brother only used his powers in front of other animals, and relied on his normal acting and acrobatic skills for his circus act.

Besides their performances, the circus gang were also a bit busy helping Annabelle with the dogs she rescued from Kibbleland. As she had promised, Annabelle returned there regularly to save small groups of Belladona's victims, a group much larger than she had originally thought; apparently, Belladona used Kibbleland as her personal prison, meaning she had sent dozens of enemies, former allies and naive victims for several years now, and a few of those victims had started families while imprisoned, so Annabelle also had to teleport several pups and young canines that had never experienced life out of Kibbleland. And all this had to be done stealthy, without Belladona or Manfred finding out whenever Annabelle opened a portal, so they couldn't use it to escape themselves; many times, the head archangel had to recruit Donovan to help her locate the imprisoned canines, since Kibbleland was such a dangerous place that many of them lived in real hide-outs, and only someone with Donovan's senses and knowledge of the terrain could find them. They also had to politely reject Jake's help; he really wanted to go to Kibbleland, as some sort of poetic justice, having the reformed Anti-Christ helping ruin the demons' plans, but Annabelle thought it would be too risky to have him there; after all, Kibbleland was created out of demonic magic, and it was possible that Jake's dark side got strengthened just by being there.

Luckily, by the time Sasha's pregnancy was about to end, the work was mostly completed, and apparently only Belladona and Manfred remained as the only permanent residents, aside from the various monsters living there.

Despite all this work, added to her already existing duties, Annabelle still made time to officiate Itchy and Bess' wedding. They celebrated it a month after the Kibbleland's adventure; luckily, the performers were quite happy to help the couple with the preparations, so it was much faster than expected. Annabelle, at first, thought about celebrating it in Heaven, as they did with Charlie and Sasha's, but, again, she was so busy those days that they just didn't have the time, so the ceremony was made at Itchy and Bess' favorite park, that was big enough for all the guests and perfect for the reception party, that extended until the next day's early hours; apparently, being a 'party animal' was on Charlie's genes, as he and Donovan kept the party going almost all by themselves, and with Haley providing some extra 'support', it was almost a miracle that they didn't wake up the whole city; Itchy and Bess had to sleep and rest a lot after the reception before going to their honeymoon; Sasha suggested the same beach she and Charlie went to, and judging by their huge smiles when they returned home two weeks later, Itchy and Bess certainly enjoyed the honeymoon.

All things considered, besides the wedding and Annabelle's rescuing and relocation of Kibbleland's prisoners, it was a mostly peaceful time, and Charlie and company only had to attend minor emergencies once in a while, which suited him well as he still had to assist and take care of his pregnant wife. Even if Sasha was as independent and capable as usual, even she had to admit that being pregnant would keep her relatively grounded at home, especially in the last couple of weeks previous to the pups' birth.

"Hey, Sasha, I'm home." Charlie smiled when returning home after doing some work with Donovan. "Donnie and I found a good home for the last group Annabelle brought from Kibbleland. How are you feeling?"

"Remember yesterday's news, about that beached whale?" Sasha groaned, laying on the couch while touching her over inflated belly. "I feel the same… just without the fish's breath."

"Oh, come on, Sasha, you're exaggerating…"

Sasha turned a bit, and she had to stretch her legs to stop herself from falling to the floor; her belly still did, touching the floor like a giant water balloon. Luckily, she had cushioned her abdominal area precisely in case something like this happened.

"Okay… maybe you're not exaggerating as much as I thought."

"I know… Charlie, I feel like a giant zepellin."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Sasha; a zepellin can float, you obviously can't."

"Charlie…" Sasha frowned but then noticed her husband sly smirk and couldn't stop herself from laughing a bit. "Heh… thanks, I needed that."

"I know. And jokes aside, Sasha, really, don't feel bad; sure, you can't run a marathon right now, but we both know you're carrying the most precious pups ever. And I'm saying this as a future parent, not just as the future parent of the New Christ; to me, all our pups are just as important."

"Aw, Charlie, you're sweet." Sasha smiled and kissed him. "And, Charlie…"

"Yes, Love?"

"My water just broke."

Two seconds later, Charlie realized what she had just said.

"Oh, slippery abalone, Annabelle, where are you, Sasha's about to go into labor!." Charlie started running in circles, obviously freaked out. "WE NEED A VETERINARY! WE NEED CLEAN TOWELS AND HOT WATER! WE NEED A TRANQUILIZER DART… THAT ONE'S FOR ME…!"

A moment later, Annabelle's image appeared on a nearby mirror.

"Charles, cool down! I'm here." Annabelle said in her best calm tone. "And you don't need to freak out that much."

"ANNABELLE, I'M GONNA BE A FATHER! SASHA'S HAVING OUR PUPS! SHE'S GONNA NEED…"

"Charles, Sasha has stretching powers. She'll feel little to no pain." Annabelle reminded him. "Now, just hold her paw, cool down, and I'll go tell Itchy and Bess."

"Right. Yes. You're right. Thanks for that." Charlie started breathing again.

"You're welcome. Oh, and Charles? Stop shaking the mirror; I'm getting nauseous."

Charlie realized that, in his desperation, he had grabbed the mirror with both paws and been shaking it like crazy while talking to Annabelle. The archangel, unlike other times when Charlie lost his cool, was very patient with him as she had seen new parents reacting similarly in the past, and couldn't blame him for being both excited and nervous.

"Annabelle's right, Charlie… it doesn't hurt that MUCH!" Sasha yelped at the end. Charlie rushed to her side and held her paws. "Okay, wasn't expecting that one…"

"Sasha, remember what Annabelle said: you can use your powers to lower the pain. Just… stretch and relax your muscles a bit so it doesn't hurt that much when they contract." Charlie, now considerably more calmed down, could get back into his usual quick-thinking, problem-solving mentality, even if still reasonably excited about the pups' birth. Sasha nodded at him and started doing some breathing exercises while relaxing her inner muscles; she couldn't relax completely as she still needed to feel the contractions, but she could relax enough so they didn't hurt as much as normally would.

A few seconds later, Annabelle arrived with Bess and Itchy; Stripe, Haley and Donovan, who had been visiting the couple when Annabelle came for them, were also there.

"Don't worry, Sasha, we're here." Bess rushed next to her friend.

"Quick, hot water! We need hot water!" Haley jumped up and down.

"Haley, cool down, the pups hadn't been born yet…" Donovan was interrupted by the hyena.

"I know; I'm going to make some coffee. Hot water! We need hot water!"

"Great; you with caffeine. Forget Belladonna; you're gonna bring the end of the world." Stripe facepalmed.

"Haley, drop it, can you? This is serious." Donovan actually made Haley to stop jumping.

"Okay. Puppies birth. The new Christ. Got it." Haley's expression changed completely. "Alright, give me some space. Sasha, tell me how many contractions you're having, how hard, and for how long…"

"Uh, Haley, maybe this should be done…" Itchy got interrupted by Annabelle.

"... by someone with medical training? Yes, you're right, Itchy. And Haley is a certified nurse and birth assistant."

Donovan and Stripe simply nodded at Bess, Sasha, Charlie and Itchy, confirming Annabelle's statement.

"You're kidding me, right?" Charlie turned at the hyena.

"Charlie, notice." Haley pointed at herself. "The serious face."

Haley then started getting some information from Sasha and setting up the whole place, while Annabelle took the others a few feet away to give her and Sasha the necessary space.

"I'll go get Lance and the others. And don't worry, Charles." Annabelle smiled at the soon-to-be father. "You of all dogs should know that just because someone acts like a buffoon most of the time, it doesn't mean he or she is unreliable when things get serious."

"I know… still, Haley?"

"Yeah, it surprised us too." Stripe admitted. "But yeah, she helped many dogs and assorted canines to give birth back at Kibbleland; obviously, we didn't have many doctors and nurses back there, and hyenas are apparently naturally good at delivering difficult births. She once delivered a 5 pups' litter in the middle of a show; one moment she was throwing pies at my face, and the next one was helping the mother with her breathing exercises… and after that, she still was in the mood to slap herself with a rubber chicken."

"That was surely worth the ticket price." Charlie half joked, even if obviously impressed. Annabelle then disappeared through the mirror, and the group could get back to watching Haley working, getting Sasha ready for birth.

"Okay, Sasha, we're ready for this to work. Just do whatever I tell you, and you'll have your pups in no time." Haley smiled at her friend while working on the breathing exercises.

"Thanks, Haley… uh… you know, it would be easier to take you seriously if you remove your clown nose." Sasha pointed out; Haley, of course, was still using her usual outfit.

"Hey, it worked for Patch Adams." Haley grinned before shrugging and removing some of her disguise. "If you feel better, I can remove some of the outfit… I need to be comfortable for this anyway."

"Okay then… uh, Haley, is that…"

"Barbecue sauce? Yes, it is." Haley blushed as Sasha saw a bottle of said sauce among the hyena's clowny props. "You see, the reason we hyenas are so good with this birthy-thing is… uh… we… like to follow pregnant females… to… eat the placenta."

Sasha wide opened her eyes at this.

"Yeah, yeah, I know; not the best thing a soon-to-be mother to hear." Haley sighed. "That's why I stick to being a clown instead of a nurse… heh… Haaaaaaley Nurse."

Sasha actually laughed at this, making her and Haley to feel comfortable again, at least until the next contraction came.

"Hey, I could hear those noises from the street." Jake entered the room at that moment. "Annabelle found me on the street and told me what's happening. Mom is…"

"Yes, Jakey, you're gonna become a big brother." Charlie felt quite relieved when seeing Jake there. Now he really had the whole family there, with Sasha and him, waiting for their pups' birth.

"Whoa… the Anti-Christ as the new Christ's big brother… I love this irony." Jake chuckled.

"Hey, Jake, remember, you might be the Anti-Christ by birth, but you're our boy by choice." Charlie chuckled while giving him an affectionate nuggie. "And I don't think Sasha and I could have a better big brother for our birth pups. And, again, I'm gonna remind you…"

"... that just because you and Mom are having your own flesh-and-blood pups doesn't mean things will change between us." Jake chuckled. "Dad, you had been telling me the same at least twice a week since you knew Mom was pregnant."

"Hey, give me a break. I'm about to become the father of several pups; I need to practice with the son I already have." Charlie smirked at his answer. A few moments later, Annabelle arrived with Lance and the rest of the performers.

"And the gang's here at last." Donovan chuckled.

"And as much as I love the company… WE NEED PRIVACY, PEOPLE, I MEAN, CANINES!" Haley yelled. "Can you all wait outside, please? This is getting too serious. I only want Charlie and Annabelle here… oh, and Bess too. I can use some help here."

"Better hear her… ugh, I really can't believe I'm agreeing with this hyena more than once in a day." Stripe rolled his eyes.

"I will rejoice in reminding you of that later… but right now, please, obey the nurse/medic/hyena with the clowny nose." Haley gently showed them the door. "Door, the guys; guys, the door; glad to meet you; now, please, use it."

"Yeah, that's the crazy hyena I know." Stripe rolled his eyes but soon he and the others started leaving the room, except for those Haley requested to stay.

"You sure you don't need more help, Haley?" Jessie asked her friend.

"Thanks, Jess, but this isn't the circus' center ring; it's a room… a big one, yes, but with less space than the circus' tent. We're already too crowded here…"

"**OOOOW!" **Sasha felt another contraction.

"... and we're about to get even more crowded!" Haley went back to attend the soon-to-be mother.

All the performers and Lance left the room and waited outside. Itchy was about to leave too but stopped when seeing Jake wasn't moving.

"You should come too."

"Thanks, Uncle Itchy but… I… well…"

"You can stay too, Jake." Haley said without distracting herself from attending Sasha. "Yes, this place can't be too crowded, but each pup will need to be cleaned up and attended while the next one gets born, and we can use your help too. Besides, you're the puppies' big brother; they have to get familiar with your scent too."

Jake nodded and moved next to Bess while Charlie moved aside Sasha, holding her hand/paw, and Annabelle floated over the group, both to keep herself out of the way and to get a good look of everything.

"Okaaay… here it comes…" Haley touched Sasha's belly and then got in position. "You're about to have a big contraction, Sasha. You'll need to get 'normal' body consistence now; it will hurt, but it's the best way for you to give birth. Charlie, hold her paw. Bess, move next to me; I'll give you the pup when he/she's born. Jake, get her some towels or some other cloth to clean up the pup; Annabelle… stay up there and look heavenly."

A few minutes later, Sasha had a very strong contraction; Charlie needed to bite a chewing toy to stop himself from yelling when she squeezed his hand. And then, a small yapping was heard.

"And… it's a… BOY!" Haley exclaimed in happiness after receiving the pup. He looked a lot like his father, brown and tan fur with the same face as Charlie.

Sasha stretched her neck a bit to get a good view on her newborn as Bess and Jake attended and cleaned him up. Bess was visibly excited, and Jake was doing his best to hold back happiness tears; Sasha herself and Charlie were getting teary eyes themselves. Bess later gave the pup to the parents so they could hug and kiss him.

"He's… so beautiful…" Charlie never thought he could smile this much.

"Marley." Sasha named him immediately, feeling quite happy herself. Annabelle looked warmly at the scene; she had seen this scene countless times and she still loved seeing it over and over again.

"Sorry to interrupt, but the next pup will be here any minute now." Haley made Bess get Marley; she then gave him to Jake so he could take care of the newborn pup while Bess helped Haley with the next one.

"Come on, Sasha… next one is coming… Heh… who let the pups out? Sa-sha-Sa-sha-sha. Who let the pups out?! Haley started singing until Annabelle descended a bit to give her an unamused glance. "Oh… right… Serious business… Uh… Would you believe me if I tell you that laughing produces endorphins, and that's a natural pain-killer?"

"Okay, science facts apart, please cut the joking for a while, can you?" Annabelle groaned. "Specially because I almost started singing myself."

"I know. It's a catchy one, isn't it?" Haley grinned before getting serious again. "Alright, Sasha, the pup is coming… We need a big push, get it?"

"I do… okay… here it comes…" Sasha took a deep breath and pushed. "Nnnnngh… Male… Or… Female…"

"I think… we have… Yes, it's a girl!" Haley smiled as she received the little one; she looked a lot like a miniature Sasha, but her fur was a much lighter tone, and her nose was green-colored. "Hey, look, she's making a fashion statement; a white streak on her head fur."

"Our baby girl…" Charlie smiled broadly.

"Tasha…" Sasha smiled as well, again stretching her neck a bit to see her daughter.

"I like her already. Look, Tashie, I have a colored nose too!" Haley, playfully, rubbed her clown nose on Tasha's green one before handing her to Bess. Again, the newborn pup was attended by Bess and Jake, and they handed her to the parents, the both of them lovingly caressing and kissing Tasha.

"You're so beautiful, Tasha… As much as your mommy." Charlie smiled at the pup while he and Sasha cuddled her. Again, they handed Tasha to Bess so they could place her with Marley.

"Two pups out, and one more to go." Haley grinned. "And I really could use that coffee now."

Annabelle rolled her eyes and used some of the warm water to make a cup of coffee for the hyena.

"And it's decaffeinated."Annabelle cleared out. "Again, we don't need you to go hyperactive here."

"Oh, okay." Haley shrugged and drank the coffee. "Hey, you're good at making this, Annabelle."

"Let me guess; it tastes heavenly." Charlie joked now.

"I'd be rolling my eyes at your joke if I didn't agree." Annabelle smirked. Haley finished her drink and got serious again.

"Alright, people… I mean, dogs… the third pup is coming. Sasha, get ready for a final push."

"Okay, I'm ready now…" Sasha took some deep breaths. "And I'm glad we're not having five pups or more."

A few minutes later, Sasha felt the contractions, and Haley saw the third's pup's head.

"Alright, Sasha, give us a good push! And by 'us' I mean the pup; he's ready to see the world." Haley paused. "Or he'll see it after he opens his eyes."

Annabelle then moved aside Bess and Jake.

"Jake, I think you'd be the one getting the last pup. Are you fine with that, Bess?"

"Sure, no problem." Bess nodded while Jake smiled and moved aside Haley to receive the pup from her once he was born.

"Okay… here comes… the pup is coming… coming…" Sasha groaned. "HERE HE COOOOOMES! NNNGH… this one is hard…"

"Oh, great, he inherited Charlie's hard head." Bess rolled her eyes.

After a minute or so of intense pushing, Sasha finally got birth to the final pup. He had white fur like a husky and looked a lot like Charlie but his ears and muzzle were similar to Sasha's.

"The new Christ…" Annabelle said under her breath. She felt the pup's power the moment he was born.

"Wanna hold your baby brother, Jakey?" Haley handed the pup to Jake. The moment Jake had the little one on his arms, the newborn opened his eyes, revealing a pure, sky-blue color and staring at Jake, smiling and cooing at him.

"Aw… not even a minute, and he's already making friends with his big brother." Haley smiled at the scene. Jake froze at first but then smiled back at the pup and rubbed noses with him.

Annabelle enjoyed the scene as well, and even more when her powers sensed Jake's own energy changing inside him. Even if Charlie and Sasha had pretty much reformed him, Jake was still the new Anti-Christ, and with the potential to become a threat in the future; however, being a good pup at heart, Jake was very receptive to the new Christ's influence, subduing the demonic energy. Jake would still be able to use his powers, but now it would be much harder for them to corrupt the young dog, even if Belladonna managed to return and try to use her powers to get Jake to her side.

"And how are we naming this one, New Parents?" Bess smiled at Charlie and Sasha, who had been admiring the new pup and Jake together, in so much awe and happiness they had been silent the whole time.

"Joseph." Sasha and Charlie chorused.

"Very appropriate." Annabelle commented while Bess and Jake cleaned up the last pup, and then put him along with his siblings.

"Alright, the show's over. Time for the crowd to applaud!" Haley chuckled and, once she finished cleaning up Sasha, she made a summersault to the door. "And we need the crowd."

"I can open the…" Sasha was stretching one of her arms now, but Annabelle stopped her.

"Sasha, you just gave birth. Super powers or not, you need a break. In fact, take a week off; at least, take it easy." Annabelle recommended her.

"And this time, I fully agree with Annabelle; and considering how rare that is, you can tell how much I care about you and the pups." Charlie pointed out, grinning, while Annabelle rolled her eyes again.

"Alright, get ready for the stampede." Haley chuckled before finally opening the door. "The pups are here! Well, they were already here, but now they're finally on the outside."

"No need to explain." Stripe said as he entered; still, he had to say it in a hurry, since, as Haley correctly guessed, everyone entered so quickly that they almost stampeded over the hyena.

"Hey, cool down; it's a maternity room, not the subway!" Haley groaned before grinning and taking out a large sandwich she ate immediately. "Speaking of subways, I earned this one."

The group was now congratulating the parents and admiring the pups; Annabelle had carried them with her magic and gently placed them in Sasha's paws, the new mother holding and admiring them in awe while Charlie nuzzled her.

Annabelle, very slowly and silently, made herself invisible and started leaving the room, everyone so focused on the family that they didn't notice when she finally left. Right now, her job was done, and she was more than pleased with the results. The new Mesiah couldn't be born in a better family.

**The End.**


End file.
